How Acupuncture Works for Running Injuries

While the goal of most runners is to keeping your body healthy from the start, there are certain symptoms and injuries that runners in particular need to be prepared for. These include injuries like shin splints, plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee, IT Band pain, pulled or strained muscles, and stress fractures.

Acupuncture can be used to treat a number of sports injuries and has a very successful healing record for athletes. (In fact, acupuncture is so beneficial that insurance companies are now beginning to add coverage and many professional sports teams have an acupuncturist on staff.)

You may have commonly heard that acupuncture works by balancing your “Qi” (pronounced: chee). Simply put, Qi refers to everything that is a vital part of your functioning body. While the concept of Qi is foundational to this traditional medicine, a growing body of research is helping athletes and trainers better understand the physical science behind acupuncture’s healing impact.

Here are a few evidenced-based facts on how acupuncture helps the body heal and recover:

  1. Acupuncture promotes blood flow to the injured areas, which helps speed the healing process. This reaction is very similar to the histamine response, an immune reaction during which histamines prompt white blood cells and healing proteins to engage, attack and destroy pathogens in affected tissues.

  2. Acupuncture reduces swelling and inflammation by helping balance cortisol in the body. When elevated, cortisol can cause inflammation and decreased immune function.

  3. Acupuncture offers pain relief without adverse side effects. When prepping for a race, runners want to feel their best. Pain killers come with unpleasant side effects, leaving athletes feeling weak or sluggish. By helping the nervous system produce painkilling chemicals and stimulating parts of the brain that control emotions, acupuncture provides pain relief that is free of side effects that may interfere with performance.

If you are looking to speed up recovery or heal an injury, acupuncture is an effective treatment with minimal side effects and countless benefits. Athletes find that acupuncture can improve sleep, lower stress, and even boost performance while training.

Aligned Modern Health offers free consultations with a team of experts, as well as free Sports Movement Screenings with Aligned Modern Health’s Chiropractic and Physical Medicine team.

For more information, visit: or telephone (773) 598-4387