Acupuncture Awareness Week – AAW | 7th -13th March

Acupuncture Awareness week is fast approaching 7th – 13th March, with this year’s theme being sports The Physiotherapy Practice Ltd are celebrating their fantastic team of Physiotherapists trained in acupuncture and raising awareness of how acupuncture with physiotherapy can keep you in the gym, on the field and flying round the track.

With the 2016 Olympics in Rio approaching, we are sure to have plenty of sporting achievements to be proud of as a country again this year. And it’s a Physiotherapists job to ensure our athletes perform at their best, remain injury-free and recover quickly and safely when those unavoidable injuries do happen. Now more and more elite athletes are combining physiotherapy with acupuncture to improve performance without the use of drugs and with few to no side effects. The many benefits athletes enjoy include pain relief, increased circulation, reduced inflammation, quicker recovery times from injuries and workouts and relaxation of tense muscles.

But of course it is not just elite athletes coming through the Physio doors with sporting injuries. Interest in sports and fitness continues to grow, with increased participation in recreational and organised sports by all ages, often supported by government initiatives such as the brilliant This Girl Can. But when you are pushing your body to its limits, sometimes you go over them. Injuries are often caused by trauma as a result of a sudden impact or awkward movement, injuries can also develop over time if we use the same joints or muscle groups continually. And remember, there are other contributing factors that you can avoid, such as not warming the body up before exercise, using inadequate equipment or training too hard for your current level of fitness.

Through an advanced knowledge of myofascial pain and the processes of inflammation and tissue healing, our acupuncture physiotherapists can safely and effectively employ a variety of needling techniques for the treatment of acute and chronic sports injuries. Acupuncture is able to safely reduce pain by stimulating the brain and central nervous system to produce natural pain-relieving chemicals such as endorphins, melatonin (which promotes sleep) and serotonin (to promote well-being), to name a few.

The advantage of acupuncture with physiotherapy is that patients benefit from the integration of acupuncture into an holistic treatment of their sports injury, including the development of an appropriate exercise and stretching programme that takes in to account tissue trauma, muscle imbalance and normal movement patterns. By managing a patient’s pain, acupuncture can enhance the patient’s ability to engage in physiotherapy treatments, therefore aiding recovery. The aim to help you become stronger, fitter and happier and enjoy an injury-free active lifestyle, allowing you to conquer your personal sporting and physical goals.

With many of The Physiotherapy Practice Ltd physiotherapist’s members of the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, you know you’re in the safest of hands. You can find The Physiotherapy Practice Ltd at 78 North Station Road, Colchester, 01206 571892.