PREVENTING INJURIES IN YOUNG ATHLETES
If you want to be an injury free athlete, treat your body like it! Many of our patients want their bodies to function like an athlete but do not treat it like one. Staying active often leads to incidental injuries, and prevention is proactive task. Here are my recommendations:
1. Eat a nutrient rich diet. Do away with empty calories. Calories that have no nutritional value like processed foods. By processed foods, I mean food from a package or can.
2. Drink at least 2-3 liters of water per day. Maybe more if you are sweating alot during your practice or game. Add some electrolytes to the water, like Emergen-C or minerals. I do not generally recommend Gatorade because of the sugar and artifical colors.
3. Take a few supplements that are known for recovery. Magnesium - For muscle tightness, soreness and spasms. General recommendations might be from 100-300 mg depending up the athlete. MSM - For ligament and tendon repair. MSM facilitates connections between tissue. Damaged tissue from athletics needs to heal ASAP. Why not give it some of the building blocks for regeneration. General recommendations might be from 1000-5000 mg depending upon the athlete. Glucosamine HCL - For joint repair. This product is for cartilage repair. General recommendations might be 500-2000 mg depending upon the athlete. These supplements are to be an addition to an already rich diet.
4. Chiropractic and massage therapy - To help in circulation, detect injuries early, and restore loss of motion.
5. Training routines - Specific for the type of sport that you are in. If you are a soccer player, than working on ankle stabilization techniques would be invaluable to prevent sprained ankles and ACL tears on the field. Remember to take care of the body that God has given to you. Support it when you are working it hard and you will see better performance and less injuries.
