How a Sports Acupuncturist Handles Their Own Injuries

A constant stream of happiness and growth in my life has been sports and adventure. Life was baseball, basketball, and Taekwondo in my youth. Later, after moving to Hawaii for acupuncture graduate school, I chased some of the most famous and dangerous waves in the world. Learning to train my breath for long hold-downs under water prompted me build a huge cardio engine through ultra distance trail running and cycling. And now life in Colorado has taught me the value of training for strength, giving me the ability to rock climb, mountain bike, and train with 10th Planet Jiujitsu. Through all these parts of my life, sports have provided fulfillment on many personal levels. But all the gains haven’t come without challenges.

Have I gotten injured? You bet.

Did I hope it would just resolve on its own?  Yes, but I also developed necessary actions to take to aid my body’s repair and recovery.

I know as a competitive athlete it can kill you to think, “what if I can’t do this anymore because of my ‘X’ injury?” Naturally, some people will ignore their injury. Ignorance is bliss, right? After all, we can live an immortal life in sports if we just ignore our ailments. That “no days off” mentality will not give you longevity in sport. I repeat, if you truly love what you do, wouldn't you want to do it forever?

Don’t get me wrong, most elite or even hobbiest athletes will be carrying around old injuries and pain some of the time. However, with purposeful steps, we can actively change the severity, impact, and duration of these ailments.

What does all of this mean for you? It means being responsible and taking steps from your sport-specific training to do more rehabilitative strengthening and stabilizing programs, adding in active recovery techniques, and of course seeing a professional who’s well-versed in guiding athletes to perform at their best, hack their genetics, recover and adapt just as aggressively as they train and compete.

Typical injuries for athletes can be broken-down to two types: trauma and overuse. This post will cover the first, trauma. Stay tuned for the overuse coverage.

Let’s start with trauma. So you just tweaked your shoulder in jujitsu. What do you do now? A common mistake made after a traumatic injury is icing. Here is your trigger warning…stop icing!

If you have led a life of sports you have also been indoctrinated in the icing camp. But, they were wrong. Why do we ice? Pain and to reduce swelling, right? However, with more information at hand we have to ask better questions.

So how about asking these two questions instead: Is the body’s healing response to injury a mistake? Does icing help my body remove the congestion from the injury? The answer to both questions is no.

Modern evidence-based techniques use phytotherapy via herbal liniments, heat, and muscle constriction. When an injury is iced you kill off inflammatory cytokines that are imperative to quick repair. After I have determined that nothing is surgical, or broken, soft tissue trauma protocols start.

First thing is a topical kung fu liniment passed down via a mentor, and modified and made in my clinic. We formulate the raw herbs, and make a tincture that sits for over three months. I apply the liniment to the area and put a heating pad over for 30 minutes on and 30 off.

Next is an internal herbal formula that helps with both pain-reducing and inflammatory processes.

Then I roll into compression. I love voodoo bands via either Rogue Fitness or Acumobility for home use. In the clinic I use pneumatic compression via rapid reboot devices. Both modalities run over the area to flush out congestion, without damaging important cytokines.

After the above protocol, I usually start movement, neurofunctional acupuncture, and cold laser protocols. All while continuing my above passive approach via heat and liniment. These are prescribed and performed by someone like myself, after a thorough evaluation.

No matter what sport or activity brings you happiness and growth in your life, your active body will be prone to trauma. And when trauma happens, the key is to get ahead on active recovery and these protocols so you can get back to doing what drives you. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or appointment inquires so we can get you back on track.

I’ll see you on the mats, trails, or rock!