The world of professional sports is fierce. With millions of dollars on the line and only a few years to cram your career in before you age, athletes will use any legal edge they can in order to stay competitive. Human and animal athletes both benefit from the ancient Chinese science of acupuncture in conjunction with other medical treatments.
Common Practice
In recent years, the idea of acupuncture for athletes in the Western world is becoming more and more common. There are thousands of qualified acupuncturists in the United States, just as there are thousands of doctors in other specialized fields of medicine. There is even an official group called the National Sports Acupuncture Association, which concentrates on acupuncture for athletes. Treatments are used to prevent and help heal sports injuries. Acupuncture is considered a very effective pain killer. It also does not leave any illegal or legal side effects, except that you tend y feel better. The theory is that the needles are placed in just the right spots to help the body heal itself.
So prevalent is acupuncture for athletes that most large animal veterinary practices and Thoroughbred race tracks have qualified, trained vets that use acupuncture on athletes…equine athletes, that is. The highly valuable and extremely fragile Thoroughbred racehorse is a notoriously skittish animal, but during acupuncture sessions tend to relax and sometimes nap. Some people report that a treatment feels like a deep massage, which horses love.
I Hate Needles
Acupuncture for athletes use different kinds of needles that you may not be familiar with. Some are as thin as a single strand of hair, some just a bit wider. Usually, they are made out of some kind of metal. They are thoroughly sterilized between patients, like other medical equipment is. Sometimes a mild electrical current is added to the needles, but otherwise acupuncture for athletes is basically the same as it has been for thousands of years. If a ticklish, thin-skinned horse can’t feel acupuncture needles, chances are good that you won’t, either.
Acupuncturists study charts of the body’s twin energy currents called meridians, to see where the energy is supposed to flow, and if it is the correct type. They check the athlete’s body to find where the currents are off. They then insert the needles at points to redirect the body’s natural energy currents and rebalance the two types of bodily energy, usually called Yin and Yang.
By using acupuncture for athletes, human or animal, an athlete has a powerful tool to stay in the game.
Common Practice
In recent years, the idea of acupuncture for athletes in the Western world is becoming more and more common. There are thousands of qualified acupuncturists in the United States, just as there are thousands of doctors in other specialized fields of medicine. There is even an official group called the National Sports Acupuncture Association, which concentrates on acupuncture for athletes. Treatments are used to prevent and help heal sports injuries. Acupuncture is considered a very effective pain killer. It also does not leave any illegal or legal side effects, except that you tend y feel better. The theory is that the needles are placed in just the right spots to help the body heal itself.
So prevalent is acupuncture for athletes that most large animal veterinary practices and Thoroughbred race tracks have qualified, trained vets that use acupuncture on athletes…equine athletes, that is. The highly valuable and extremely fragile Thoroughbred racehorse is a notoriously skittish animal, but during acupuncture sessions tend to relax and sometimes nap. Some people report that a treatment feels like a deep massage, which horses love.
I Hate Needles
Acupuncture for athletes use different kinds of needles that you may not be familiar with. Some are as thin as a single strand of hair, some just a bit wider. Usually, they are made out of some kind of metal. They are thoroughly sterilized between patients, like other medical equipment is. Sometimes a mild electrical current is added to the needles, but otherwise acupuncture for athletes is basically the same as it has been for thousands of years. If a ticklish, thin-skinned horse can’t feel acupuncture needles, chances are good that you won’t, either.
Acupuncturists study charts of the body’s twin energy currents called meridians, to see where the energy is supposed to flow, and if it is the correct type. They check the athlete’s body to find where the currents are off. They then insert the needles at points to redirect the body’s natural energy currents and rebalance the two types of bodily energy, usually called Yin and Yang.
By using acupuncture for athletes, human or animal, an athlete has a powerful tool to stay in the game.
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