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Top Signs You Should Seek Professional Care for Your Sports Injury

athletic woman experiencing elbow pain

Athletes often push through pain, and sometimes, that’s okay. Discomfort is common in an active lifestyle and disappears within a few days.

However, some types of pain aren’t normal. Ignoring them can worsen your condition and slow recovery, prolonging the time you'll need to spend off your game. Seeking prompt medical attention is crucial. 

But how does one know when aches and pains signal something more serious? Let's explore the signs you should seek professional care for your sports injury in this blog to help you stay aware.

Minor Injuries vs. Serious Sports Injuries

3D illustration of

Physical activity often involves some form of soreness and discomfort afterward. If you're a runner, having sore calves is normal, just as your shoulders might feel a bit tight after playing basketball. These sensations quickly improve with rest and hydration.

Persistent pain tells a different story. It stems from a serious injury that not only lingers but worsens with time, even with rest and medication.

Listening to your body is essential, especially when you experience severe pain after demanding activities like contact sports. This will let you know when to visit a sports medicine provider and get appropriate treatment before further complications arise.

Signs You Should Seek Professional Help for Your Sports Injury

Most sports injuries manifest in apparent ways that prevent you from performing your best—sometimes not at all—during play. Let's explore some telltale signs you should seek professional care for your sports injury.

runner took a pause from running due to leg pain

Persistent Pain

Pain lasting for several days and weeks, even with rest and medication, may signal deeper issues. A comprehensive checkup can help identify the exact causes and guide proper treatment. Remember: pain is your body's response to injury. If it doesn't stop, it's time to seek medical attention.

Swelling, Bruising, and Warmth

These symptoms reflect your body’s inflammatory response to tissue damage, increasing blood flow and fluid buildup at the injury site. Medication may ease discomfort temporarily, but symptoms can return if the underlying issue isn’t resolved.

Stiffness and Limited Mobility

Most injuries, especially those affecting your joints, can immobilize the affected limb. It often points toward soft tissue damage. It could even restrict associated joints, like when elbows, wrists, and hands become unmovable when you sustain shoulder injuries.

Pain that Worsens with Activity

As an athlete, you dedicate years to training and competing in the sport you love. So, pain worsening with movement can drastically impact both your performance and mental health. Seeking medical care can help identify the cause, ease discomfort, and guide your recovery.

Numbness, Tingling, or Weakness

These sensations often radiate outwards from the injury site, indicating nerve damage, irritation, or compression. They may also spread to other areas of your body. For example, sciatica manifests in numbness, tingling, or weakness from the lower back to the feet.

Recurring Pain in the Same Spot

Many sports injuries stem from overuse injuries, like tendonitis or stress fractures. These conditions happen whenever you subject a body part to repeated stress without giving it time to recover—a problem common among even the most experienced athletes.

Risks of Ignoring a Sports Injury

ankle pain sports injury

After heavy physical activity, it's crucial to examine yourself. Do you feel any of the symptoms above? If so, seek medical attention promptly.

Otherwise, you risk sustaining further injuries that may worsen into chronic pain and long-term damage. Pushing through the pain will also exacerbate the problem, impacting your performance and keeping you out of your sport longer than necessary.

It's better to be safe than sorry. If you notice pain, swelling, numbness, and other symptoms during or after playing sports, visiting a physical therapist can help resolve the issue and lower your risk of future injuries.

How Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy Help Sports Injuries

A personalized sports injury treatment plan involves several techniques to foster a comprehensive and well-rounded recovery. These approaches commonly include:

  • Chiropractic care to address pain from spinal and joint misalignments, limited mobility, and poor posture, which may reduce injury risk.
  • Soft tissue therapy to help damaged muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia recover faster and reduces the risk of excessive scarring.
  • Personalized rehabilitation exercises to strengthen weak areas, allowing you to become a stronger and more capable athlete when you recover.

These techniques are essential to a personalized treatment plan because they help you recover without the common side effects associated with medication or surgery. Consequently, there's no need to worry about dizziness, nausea, headaches, or the days to weeks of post-surgery recovery.

When to See a Chiropractor for a Sports Injury

Remember, early intervention leads to faster recovery. It's crucial to consult a sports chiropractor when your pain starts limiting your performance and affecting your daily life, especially if it lingers beyond normal recovery time.

Don't wait it out. Reaching out to your trusted athletic chiropractor soon after you sustain a sports injury will help you recover more effectively and return to your sport confidently.

Natural Sports Injury Recovery with More Life Chiropractic

physical therapy session

Thankfully, you don't have to look far for an experienced sports chiropractor in Burbank, CA. Dr. Bijan Nowzari leads our team at More Life Chiropractic to provide athletes with holistic, drug-free solutions to their sports-related pain and injuries. 

What sets him apart is his integrative approach, combining several techniques from sports taping to manual therapy to address symptoms and their underlying causes. 

His relaxed, personalized care environment helps patients recover more effectively and avoid further injury. More Life Chiropractic helps athletes of all levels reach their peak performance—including you.

Takeaway

Knowing the signs you should seek professional care for your sports injury could spell the difference between a quick recovery and long-term issues, between being able to do what you love and spending months on the sidelines.

So, listen to your body and give us a call if you need help. More Life Chiropractic provides safe, effective, and natural sports injury treatment programs to help you jump back into your sport better than ever. Schedule a sports injury consultation with us today!!

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