With the ever-increasing amount of research pouring out on athletic performance, it may seem daunting how many foods have contributed to excess mucus production. While healthy amounts of mucus are needed in the gut and rest of the body to fight off infections and promote absorption of nutrients, too much of anything can be detrimental. As an athlete of any level, it is important to see where you fit on the scale of gut and overall metabolic health. In doing so, you will be able to gauge the extent to which you need to eliminate certain foods, if at all necessary. Subscribe to our email list for more gems on athlete nutrition. (perplexity research app)

Q1: How can sports chiropractic improve my athletic performance?
A1: Sports chiropractic can improve your athletic performance by highlighting deficiencies in gait, nutrition, prehabilitation that are causing a plateau in athletic performance. Though seemingly small details, these elements of an athletic separate a gold medalist from a bronze medalist. Sports chiropractic is rooted in evidence-based approaches to help athletics perform optimally, both on and off the field.

Q2: What types of injuries do sports chiropractors typically treat?
A2: While sports chiropractors tend to take a conservative approach to care of their patients, working alongside allopathic physicians and healthcare professionals when necessary, sports chiropractors help manage tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, ACL tears, PCL tears, medial and lateral meniscus tears, alongside joint dysfunctions and muscle strains and sprains.

Q3: Why do professional athletes include chiropractic care in their training?
A3: Professional athletes include chiropractic care in their training due to the emphasis on the whole person. More so, rather than look at a professional athlete from the perspective of sole bodily care, chiropractic care is designed to address the mental, familial, and emotional aspects that can impact athletic performance. Unlike physical therapists, chiropractors are physicians that are trained to diagnose and help comanage comorbidities in athletes, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular ailments. Chiropractors have built rapport with some of the most high-performing athletes in the game such as Tiger Woods, Usain Bolt, Tom Brady, and Micheal Phelps.

Q4: What credentials should I look for in a sports chiropractor?
A4: A sports chiropractor, at minimum, will have a doctorate of chiropractic (DC) degree, CPR/AED certification, and his or her respective state licensure. Some chiropractors who emphasize training will have a CPT (certified personal trainer certification). Additionally, some sports chiropractors will have a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians (DACBSP), and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certificate.

Q5:How does sports chiropractic help prevent re-injury?
A5: Sports chiropractic help prevent re-injury by helping athletes regain proprioception (awareness of one’s self in space), training weak muscles, providing nutritional counseling, and addressing deficits in gait, range of motion, and mobility. Additionally, sports chiropractic helps prevent re-injury by implementing a series of manual therapies and modalities in order to restore blood flow and tissue integrity to previously injured regions.