Rehab Exercises

SPORTS INJURY CHECKLIST 

Questions your acupuncturist will ask about  your injury or sports performance: 

• How did it happen? 
• When did it happen?  
• How painful is it? 
• What sort of pain is it? 
• How restricted is movement of the  affected area? 

The signs and symptoms of your particular  injury will be assessed and diagnosed by your  acupuncturist and the appropriate treatment  will be dispensed for your specific condition. 

To be sure of the best professional treatment,  always consult an acupuncturist displaying  the accredited AACMA symbol.  

For more information on sports injuries, please  visit www.acupuncture.org.au.

GIVING YOUR BODY A SPORTING  CHANCE 

If you happen to be sidelined by a sports  injury, or injury to joints or muscles you’re  likely to be suffering either one or more of  the following signs and syndromes: 

• Bruising 
• Inflammation 
• Swelling or Oedema 
• Restriction or Movement 
• Pain

As a general rule, treatment of sporting  type injuries relies on the R.I.C.E principle.  Rest. Ice. Compression and Elevation.  This treatment will help reduce the swelling,  inflammation and bruising associated with  these injuries.  

However, acupuncture treatment helps to  ‘fast track’ your recovery time and get to  the point of the problem quicker.  

GETTING RIGHT TO THE POINT! 

For sports-related muscle and joint injuries, acupuncture  works locally right at the site of the problem. Your body has  the capacity to ‘manufacture’ its own natural pain killers,  natural anti-inflammatory and anti-stress hormones.  Acupuncture stimulates your body to get that production  line moving. This releases natural,

in-built, body chemical  healers, giving you a less pain/more gain sensation and  the ability to get back into the game faster. The fact is, the  sooner you start acupuncture treatment on these injuries,  the less time you’ll need to be sitting on the sidelines.  

Once the acupuncture treatment has commenced it will  work in the following ways to help you bounce right back  into action: 

• lessening the effect of bruising 

• reducing swelling, inflammation and pain 

DRUG-FREE, PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING  EFFECTS TOO. 

One of the great and really interesting side benefits  of acupuncture is its natural performance-enhancing  ability, utilising and facilitating the untapped potential  that exists in us all, particularly with sportsmen and  women. That extra ‘edge’ would normally lie dormant  as a reserve. Now, through acupuncture, it can  be accessed.  

From swimmers to runners, athletes are using the  physical and mental stimulation and inner calmness  created by acupuncture treatment to help them cross  ‘the pain barrier’. This barrier is crossed when an athlete  generates enough ‘endorphins’ (‘happy hormones’) to  experience euphoric feelings and less pain.  

To do all of this, acupuncture treatment recreates and  maintains the natural free flow of energy through all the  muscles, blood vessels and vital organs of the body.  

Acupuncture treatment can get an athlete up and  going before the event starts, creating an enormous  psychological advantage and allowing performance to  be enhanced through the relaxation of tight muscles  and increased blood flow.  

Acupuncture’s potential for performance enhancement  is enormous and its’ role in the sporting arena is being  tapped by countless athletes and sports professionals  anxious to get on with the game. 

If you feel your performance could be improved your  nearest accredited acupuncturist will be happy to  explain it all to you.