Staying active and fit is important for a healthy body and lifestyle. Those who stay active and workout regularly experience better cardiovascular health, decreased risk of diabetes, decreased risk of heart attack and disease, and more. It’s no secret that exercise also does wonders for your mental health, which is just another reason to stay active.
Running is perhaps one of the best exercises you can do. It provides a steady rate of cardio and gives your entire body a complete workout.
Running impacts your whole body, and that means it also has the potential to hurt or effect your whole body in other ways as well. Because of this, many runners may experience injury, aches and pains, and other issues. This is common, and the benefits usually outweigh the risk. This is especially true if you see a chiropractor regularly, as they can help you in a variety of ways as a runner and as a healthy individual.
But how does visiting a chiropractor benefit you as a runner?
Prevent Injuries
Visiting a chiropractor regularly when you’re a runner can help you prevent injuries before they even begin. Even when you do everything correctly, it’s all too easy to get injured as a runner. Many runners are so very dedicated to the sport that they will continue to run even with pain and injury. Running with back pain and a misaligned spine can cause further pain and injury. Visiting a chiropractor helps your entire body, and your chiropractor will help create a treatment plan that helps you keep injuries at bay.
When you visit a chiropractor, they will help you assess just how bad your spinal alignment is. From there, they’ll work with you to formulate a plan that takes care of these issues, preventing injuries and lessening back pains. Runners who see a chiropractor are often surprised at how much their risk of injury lessens when they begin to take their chiropractic treatment seriously.
Better Runs
Running takes a toll on your body, and sometimes the damage your body takes is also dependent on how well your running form is. It’s a cycle of pain and bad form. If your form is bad, it can cause more bodily issues, which in turn will cause you to sacrifice your form. This cycle will repeat until you either fix one of these issues, or until you get burnt out on running and give up all together. Instead of giving up on running, visiting a chiropractor is a great way to improve your form, reduce your pains, and improve your runs.
A chiropractor will be able to help you access where you struggle most, and with the help of chiropractic adjustments, manipulations and treatments, you’ll find that staying in the proper form when you run will get a lot easier. Helping your form will in turn help you run more efficiently, more quickly, and with less struggles or pain. Sometimes all your body need is a little extra care to really reach the next level as a runner.
Running Disorder Treatment
It’s relatively common for runners to experience some sort of disorder. These disorders often bog down the body and effect your run negatively. A very common running disorder is plantar fasciitis, which is essentially a disorder categorized by inflammation in a thick band of tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes and other areas of your foot. This condition can be exceptionally painful and may even prevent you from running in general.
Plantar Fasciitis is usually recognized by the experience of a stabbing pain in the foot, most often near the heel. Pain levels may fluctuate, and sometimes seem to be worse in the morning. Too much pressure is a common cause, and runners experience this disorder very often. Many people turn to shoe inserts that don’t really work when attempting to treat the condition. Others will turn to pain medications or even surgery.
Chiropractic care is a great way to help cure your plantar fasciitis, and your chiropractor may utilize one of many different treatments. One common treatment to help runners is called ART, or Active Release Technique. This technique applies deep tension while also carefully moving a joint through its standard range of motion. This technique is one of the most common and is often combined with massage and stretching. The Graston Technique is another common technique, that is designed to break down multi-level scar tissue using stainless steel tools that are hand-held. Your chiropractor will help decide which treatments work best for you, especially when dealing with plantar fasciitis.
Drug-Free Pain Management
Runners are very likely to experience pains, injuries, and other issues that would require pain medication. Unfortunately, many runners become dependent on heavy pain killers as they try to reduce their pain levels. Many doctors are all too quick to prescribe these pain killers, which often do more harm than good.
There are many chiropractic treatments out there, and all of them can be just as effective as taking painkillers. Some common chiropractic treatments include things like Functional Dry Needling and EMS. Functional Dry Needling is a technique that is designed to release tension in trigger points. This is done by applying deep stimulation to the muscle tissue with needles. This treatment can be particularly useful and effective for the psoas muscle/hip flexor muscle. EMS refers to Electrical Muscle Stimulation, and is when tension is released by stimulation of the surface muscles by using electrical applications, usually by placing small electrodes on the area of treatment.
All chiropractic treatments may be just as useful as heavy drugs or even surgery. They are effective without the need of intrusive treatments that require lengthy recovery times. Chiropractic treatments are also very safe for most healthy runners.
Shorten Recovery Time
Every runner knows how much it sucks to not run. Nobody likes to be laid up, and unable to run for very long. However, sometimes something goes wrong, or you land wrong, and you find yourself in need of extra recovery time. Those who visit a chiropractor regularly may experience this less often.
Runners who receive chiropractic treatment tend to have a shorter recovery time than those who don’t. This is because your body is aligned properly, and your tendons, spinal column, and nerves have the appropriate room that they need to function properly. Most runners who visit a chiropractor find that their recovery time drastically decreases, sometimes being under 24 hours!
There are many benefits that visiting a chiropractor would have for a runner. Running puts a lot of strain on your body, and a chiropractor has the tools and treatment to help lessen that strain. Visiting a chiropractor as a runner may help reduce injury, lessen pains, improve your form, and may even increase your energy and overall well-being. There are plenty of great chiropractic treatments, even for ailments like plantar fasciitis and other common ailments and pains. If you find that your run is struggling, and that you’re looking for a non-invasive way of treating common running issues, contact a chiropractor today to see how they can help you stay running. Every great run starts with a single step, and sometimes that step is visiting a chiropractor.
