Sarasota Chiropractic Care for Sports Injuries: We Answer Your Top 5 FAQs

If you have recently sustained a sports injury, you may be wondering how chiropractic care can help your body heal and get you back to living an active, healthy lifestyle. Chiropractic care is an effective, drug-free technique for managing neck and back pain and supporting the body’s natural healing process.

Below, our sports injury chiropractor Dr. Abe Kozma answers five of your most frequently asked questions about chiropractic care and sports injury rehabilitation.

#1: What causes sports injuries?

Overuse, falls, improper equipment, fatigue, poor warm-up, and poor technique are common causes for sports injuries. Hard impacts are a leading cause for shin splints and neck pain, including spasms and pulls, is often the result of something as simple as moving the neck suddenly to follow a ball or straining to see where you’re going, which tightens the neck muscles and can trigger a painful spasm. Our chiropractor frequently treats patients for repetitive motion injuries, such as tennis elbow, golf elbow or chronic knee pain.

#2: What should I do if I suffer a sports injury?

If you experience pain while exercising or playing a sport, immediately stop what you are doing. Finishing your run or playing the rest of the game is not worth the serious injury you may cause to your body. While rest, ice, compression and elevation may help reduce swelling and minimize neck pain and back pain, many sports injuries will not simply “get better” on their own. Rehabilitative care is essential to managing neck pain and back pain and supporting the body’s natural healing process. The earlier you schedule a diagnostic appointment with our chiropractor, the more we can do to manage your knee, neck or back pain and prevent the formation of scar tissue.

#3: Is a chiropractor qualified to treat sports injuries?

Yes, our Sarasota chiropractor  is fully qualified to treat sports injuries. As part of his training as a chiropractor, Dr. Kozma learned how to diagnose and treat musculoskeletal injuries, including neck pain, back pain and muscle pain that is associated with a sports injury.

#4: How are sports injuries diagnosed?

Our Sarasota chiropractor diagnoses sports injuries using diagnostic imaging tools such as X-rays. Depending on the type of injury, a hands-on examination may also be necessary to determine the extent of soft tissue damage. Throughout your treatment program, Dr. Kozma will monitor your progress.

#5: How are sports injuries treated?

Depending on the type of sports injury, our chiropractor may combine several treatment techniques for maximum neck and back pain relief. These techniques include chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy and corrective care exercises. For example, if you are suffering elbow pain due to a repetitive motion injury, your treatment program will both relieve your elbow pain as well as treat the underlying spinal misalignment that triggered this pain. Corrective care exercises will help bring mobility, flexibility and balance back to the body after a Sarasota sports injury.