Acupuncture Healed My Gymnastics Injury- an Elbow Hyperextension



Three weeks before my State meet, earlier this year, I was warming up for my Level 6 routine on floor and when I did my round off backhandspring backlayout, I hyperextended my elbow.  I didn't tell my coach because I have hyperextended my arm before and I thought that the pain would go away. So I did the rest of practice with pain and it continued to hurt when I got home through the next day. When I relaxed my arm and straightened it all the way, it hurt and felt limp. It also hurt to put any pressure on it if I did handstands or cartwheels. So I ended up going to a Sports Medicine doctor and he said not to put any pressure on it and ice it 3 times a day for 20 minutes. At practice I was not able to do much, I mostly did conditioning and standing flips. 

State meet was near and the doctor said that I couldn't compete. He said if I hyperextended my elbow again I could fracture the growth plate and the recovery time would be 6 to 8 months! He also wanted me to get a MRI but since I was going on vacation we decided to wait and see how it felt after the time off.  When I came back from vacation, my arm felt good again so I was able to gradually get back to full practices again.  

Then in the end of September I was practicing my Level 7 routine and hyperextended my elbow again! This time I told my coach and she had me ice it.  It continued to hurt and when we were driving to my gym the next day I saw an acupuncture place and I asked my mom about it.  My mom said that acupuncture is done with very small needles placed in special points to help heal the body or take away pain.  I asked," So can it heal my arm?" and my mom said "If you're not afraid to be stuck with needles".  

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, but then my mom made an appointment and said I had to at least try it once. On the way to the appointment I was feeling scared but I walked into the clinic and immediately felt relaxed.  There were water plants, an essential diffuser and lots of beautiful artwork on the walls.

The needles were a little bit scary at first but they didn't hurt at all.  The acupuncturist also did Guasha, which is a massage with a ceramic spoon and some warming oil. I have had 16 treatments so far and my elbow is completely healed.

Did you know an acupuncture needle is so small that it can fit into a vaccine needle! You may be asking," How does acupuncture work?" Well my acupuncturist said that your body is like a city, and there are cars driving and if a car breaks down or stops then traffic comes and that is your injury. The needles come in and help the car that broke down so the rest of the cars can move.  In Chinese medicine there is something called "Qi", pronounced "chee".  It is vital energy or life force that flows through the body's Meridians.  The cars in the example are like Qi and the Meridians are the roads/pathways that are linked together.

If you have ever tried acupuncture or think you might try it for a gymnastics injury, please comment below!

Comments

  1. MichaelJune 2, 2019 at 4:46 PM

    I haven't tried acupuncture in miami before but after reading your story, I definitely wouldn't be afraid to try it out. Thank you. Good luck with your gymnastics and everything.

    ReplyDelete

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