If you’re an athlete who trains (whether it be running, weight lifting, tennis, golfing or just casual weekend activities) on even a semi-regular basis, then looking to find an acupuncturist who specializes in Sports Acupuncture may be the right move for you. Why, you may ask?
The focus of a sports acupuncturist is the body’s movement patterns, releasing muscles that are otherwise tough to get to, as well as other training related areas. Traditional acupuncture does focus on relaxing tight muscles, but not to the extent that a Sports Acupuncturist will go, as that is their primary focus in their treatment session.

How Sports Acupuncture ‘Pin-Points’ the Issues

Instead of simply looking around for tight muscles to release them the way that a traditional acupuncturist may, sports acupuncturists will look not only to release the tight muscles but also how to improve both their functionality and flexibility.

The knowledge and ability to understand movement patterns in the body is crucial. It’s not enough to realize that muscles are tight in an area- the sports acupuncturist must understand WHY this group of muscles is tight. Their goal is to find muscle balance within the human body, so since every muscle has its own reciprocating muscle, the sports acupuncturist needs to know how to achieve this balance.

When a sports acupuncturist is treating a muscular disorder, he or she realizes that is not the only muscle that is involved- it could also involve the reciprocating muscle, or perhaps one further down the kinetic chain. For instance, a tight calf is almost never just a tight calf. The sports acupuncturist will know that they may need to then look at and treat the patient’s hip or thigh as an example, finding the area(s) that are creating the imbalance within the body.

When accounting for the entire fascial, postural, and movement chains of the body into a singular style of acupuncture, it is specifically tailored to help the athlete move, recover, train, and gain full range of motion within their body to achieve fantastic results.

Another good example is if the sports acupuncturist were to treat a patient’s tight trapezius’ (your shoulder) without factoring in any of the surrounding muscles. By only focusing on a singular muscle such as the trapezius, other muscles such as the mid- back and neck are neglected and could be easily be overlooked as the cause of the problem. Treating only one muscle rather than a collective group of muscles that contribute to the function of the movement, would be a very temporary, ‘band- aid’ fix.

The act of releasing tight muscles and their reciprocating imbalanced muscles allows the human body to recover so that it can continue to build muscle without injury. By having less or no restrictions to the function of the muscle, it can not only increase its overall performance but can increase its strength and flexibility. When you combine releasing your muscles with your strength training routine, you can achieve the best results and help to reach the goals you want to achieve.

One of the most common questions I get asked is how acupuncture can help treat musculo-skeletal disorders. While there are many thoughts and theories about how acupuncture can improve the human body’s functions i.e. Qi/energy, release of neurotransmitters from the brain, improved blood/ lymph circulations to eliminate toxins, etc… I am going to try and explain it simply as it pertains to the musculo-skeletal system and how it can improve the body’s overall movements. This is the explanation I use on my patients and people I come across because it is very simple to understand and very simple to explain it to others.

First, let’s take a quick anatomy lesson and learn about something called the fascia. It is a band or sheet of connective tissue (mostly collagen) below the skin which attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs. There are three types of fascia layers: superficial, deep, and visceral or parietal fascia. For our purposes, we will only be discussing the superficial and deep ones.

The fascia basically acts as a covering that surrounds the muscles. If the fascia is loose and flexible, the muscles where both blood vessels and nerves travel through, are also loose and free to communicate. When the fascia becomes tight, the muscles also become tight causing restricted blood flow and impingement of the nerves.

A simple analogy to understand how the fascia works is to look at a raw sausage. Sausage is nothing more than ground meat (muscle) inside a casing (fascia). If the casing is too tight, the ground meat inside will soon develop into the oblong shape of a sausage that we’ve all become familiar with. If the casing is cut or very loose, the meat inside is very loose as well, almost having no physical shape or form. When the muscle fascia is tight and stiff on a person, some common physical ailments and complaints include tightness and stiffness of the muscles, nerve impingement, numbness or shooting pains down extremities, restricted movements of body parts, malpositioned or poor positioning of the body, and many more. Once the fascia is released, the muscles become loose and flexible which equates to increased movements and flexibility. This can lead to improved blood and nervous circulation to keep the body healthy and active.

There are several methods and treatments that can loosen the fascia such as manual therapy, corrective exercises, and even stretching. However, these treatments can take a long time to see positive effects or may not be the best method at all. The reason for this is that they are not actually piercing into the skin and the fascia. A sharp object is needed to pierce into the skin and fascia to loosen the muscles quickly and effectively. If we are to use our sausage example, we can try to pull, grab, squeeze, and push the sausage in all different directions and force but it will take a long time to break that casing. Now compare that by using a sharp object such as using a knife or a fork, the casing will break more easily when these equipments are used.

The reason why acupuncture is so effective in treating musculo-skeletal disorders is that the needles can penetrate into both the skin and fascia to loosen it up very quickly. Once this is achieved, the muscles become looser and more flexible causing increased mobility and range of motion. If we look at it in terms of sports performance, this can increase an athlete’s speed, prevent injuries, improve endurance, and increase strength. If we were to look at in everyday life, acupuncture can help a person develop a better posture, better physical balance to prevent falls, improved movements from physical injuries, and prevent future re-occurring injuries.