Chiropractic and Sports Injuries

Here at Freedom Chiropractic we’re not just experts at treating the spine.  We are also skilled at treating shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles and feet and the muscles in between.  Our unique assessment and treatment approach will have you pain-free and back in action in no time.

Pain can be coming from a number of sources: muscles, ligaments, nerves, bones and other soft tissues.  Although muscle and ligament tears take time to heal, Freedom Chiropractic treatment can offer techniques to realign the joints to take the tension and strain off the tissues so they can heal faster.  When the biomechanical cause is removed, inflammation will drain away and the tissues will heal naturally.  This healing process can be aided by soft tissue work and products such as arnica cream.  Of course we are trained to recognise more serious injuries that need to be referred to a sport medicine doctor or surgeon.

Muscular strains, and imbalances in muscle tension and strength can often be a result of incorrect alignment of the bones and joints.  This alignment is determined by the ligaments holding the bones together.  Think of them as big, thick rubber bands, they have a certain level of tension.  When ligaments get strained they react by tightening up and pulling the bones out of position and not allowing the normal movement throughout the joint.  This then impacts on the surrounding muscles that are attached to the bones.  They can become tensioned or slackened due to the altered alignment of the bones.  Any increased tension on muscles will make them more susceptible to being easily strained.

The chiropractic adjustment resets the ligament tension to normal, restoring the correct joint alignment and natural movement.  There is often an immediate release of tension in the surrounding muscles. 

Shoulders

Shoulder pain and problems can be very simple but are often complex.  In my experience the alignment and function of the shoulder is influenced and often predisposed to injury by misalignment through the hips and pelvis, the ribcage, the neck, and the AC and SC joints at either end of the collarbone.  It is important to assess and correct any problems in these areas first prior to correcting problems in the shoulder joint itself.  I have eliminated shoulder pain in many people by correcting the ribcage only as any ribs that are out of position can push the shoulder blade and shoulder joint out of alignment.

Hip/Groin

Again, Hip and Groin pain can either be a simple issue of the hip joint being misaligned or a more complex issue involving the hips, pelvis and lower thoracic spine and ribcage.  Often all is needed is for the hip joints to be realigned with a couple of adjustments, the mechanical cause of irritation is removed and the pain disappears.  More complex issues in the groin have generally been building up over the years and can take a number of treatments to correct, but with patience from both client and practitioner, I have had great success with chronic issues in this area.

Knees

Knees are simple hinge joints and are massively influenced by the joints above and below: the hip and ankle and feet.  Any internal or external rotation of the hip joints will put extra strain on the inside or outside of the knees.  The alignment through the ankles and feet will also change to attempt to correct this and that can also causing twisting strain up into the knee joint.  I have found that assessing and correcting the alignment in the hip and ankle/feet joints first allows me to easily correct the alignment of the knee joint and reduce strain on the ligaments of the knee joint.  Pain relief is often immediate and normal exercise can be resumed.