Basketball Sports Medicine Treatments Chiropractors Know

Basketball provides a fun and competitive activity, but many basketball players experience injuries every year. Chiropractors are skilled in treating basketball injuries with sports medicine.

Here’s a look at how a chiropractor can help you if you suffer a sports injury.

Common Basketball Injuries

Facial abrasions – Contact with another player or the floor can cause cuts to the face. Most cuts can be treated superficially, but deeper cuts may require stitches.

Jammed or broken finger – When a ball slams up against the tip of a finger, a jam can happen. Swelling and soreness may result. If the swelling and pain persist, seek medical care to check for a fracture.

Wrist sprains or fractures – If you extend your hand to brace yourself from the impact of a fall, you can sprain or fracture your wrist.

Bruised thigh – When an athlete bumps up against another athlete during a game, deep bruising may happen. Players can wear thigh guards for protection.

Knee injury – The stop-and-go motion of basketball play wears on knees’ ligaments. Some ligaments can be treated with ice and braces. More serious tears to the ACL, often caused from twisting or sudden motion, must be corrected with surgery.

Hamstring injury – Your hamstring may pull or tear while you run during a game.

Ruptured Achilles tendon – You may lose the ability to lift your toes if you injure this tendon. Surgery and a cast are the standard treatments.

Sprained ankle – This type of injury can occur if the athlete twists, rolls, or turns their ankle in a way that stretches or tears the ligaments. If a child experiences an ankle sprain, an exam is necessary to check for damage to the growth plate.

Tendonitis – Inflammation in the tendons can occur from overuse.

Prevention

Proper conditioning is important, so an athlete is better prepared for games.

Adequate hydration and nutrition will help prevent fatigue, which can lead to injury.

Warming up before a game helps prevent injuries.

Wearing the right kind of shoes and sports gear can help protect you.

Overtraining can set you up for injuries. It’s essential to give your body adequate rest and take breaks between seasons.

After an injury, you should only return to playing under the guidance of a medical professional.

Treatments

The P.R.I.C.E. method is an easy at-home treatment for most minor basketball injuries.

Protect – Use crutches, bracing, or splints as needed.

Rest – Stop sports activity until healing has taken place.

Ice – Use a bag of ice or a cold pack to bring swelling down and provide pain relief. Slowing the swelling will create a faster recovery.

Compression – By wrapping the affected area, the potential for swelling decreases.

Elevate – Elevate the affected area to control inflammation.

If the P.R.I.C.E. method does not alleviate symptoms within a week, it’s best to consult a doctor or chiropractor. Here are a few methods a skilled chiropractor may use to treat your basketball injury.

• Electrical stimulation. This treatment uses electrical pulses to prevent your nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. It can be an effective treatment for sore muscles.
• Spinal decompression. If you have experienced a back injury from playing basketball, this treatment will relieve the pressure on your discs.
• Physical therapy. Chiropractors can help you rebuild ligaments and muscles through regular treatments.

If you have recently experienced a basketball injury, contact us today to get the relief you need.

About the Author: 

Dr. Singer has been a practicing chiropractor for more than 20 years, and USA Health & Therapy has been around since 2004. Over the course of his career, Singer has helped tens of thousands of people with all kinds of issues by using a wide variety of treatment strategies. He has extensive knowledge of chiropractic modalities, including Gonstead, Diversified, Thompson Drop Table, and Activator, and in 1997 he earned a special adjunctive Chiropractic Certification in Spinal Trauma (CCST) to better provide care for car crash victims. Dr. Singer is licensed to practice chiropractic medicine in both Florida and New York.