Acupuncture and Sports
By Hotaka Sutton
The fact acupuncture has become such an accepted practice is exemplified by
the number of sports enthusiasts that use it in modern time.
At the Chinese National Games held in 1993, a total of nine Chinese women
broke world distance running records. There was a big scandal over this as the
athletes were accused of the use of steroids or other banned performance
enhancing drugs. An investigation revealed that, indeed, the women had used
performance enhancing drugs, but they were not banned ones at all. They were
Chinese herbal remedies. They had been selected and given to them based on
individual examinations and a diagnosis of the individual’s strengths and
weakness based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
This event was an indication of the growing use of Traditional Chinese
Medicine is the field of Sports Medicine. The use of herbal supplements is not
the only part of TCM being used. Acupuncture is widely used in Sports medicine
to both treat sports injuries and to improve performance in actual competition.
Players have found the treatments to be extremely beneficial in both areas.
The use of acupuncture in the management of pain is quite common. It is
little wonder that players would find the treatments beneficial for this reason
alone. Many athletic injuries involve a great deal of chronic pain and
individuals are often called upon to function at a very high level despite the
pain. There is a rather unsavory image of the professional being given an
injection just prior to the big game to mask his pain in order to be able to
perform. This practice is usually portrayed as having very negative and serious
consequences.
Acupuncture using players are in one sense doing exactly the same thing. The
difference is in the fundamental difference between the approach of Chinese
medicine and Western medicine. The acupuncture treatment would not be a
localized injection designed to reduce or mask pain from an injury. It would be
a long term treatment designed to restore the natural harmony of the body and
promote the healing. To put it another way, the shot in the locker room is
treating the pain itself, while the acupuncture treatment is dealing with the cause
of the pain.
One practitioner who treats players with acupuncture explains his approach
as having three prongs. The first prong is the Yin approach. It restores the
health of the individual and addresses past injuries and deficiencies. The Yang
approach is geared toward enhancement of performance during actual
competitions. The final prong is the application of all the resources of
Traditional Chinese Medicine such as herbal supplements and healthy lifestyle
practices.
The world of sports can be highly competitive and the use of harmful and
dangerous chemical aids has become a world wide concern and scandal. The use of
acupuncture can give an edge that is both safe and legal to the sports
enthusiast.
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