Spine and Sport Physical Therapy - South West Health Center
Our California sports and spine center team is dedicated to keeping athletes healthy and in the game. Whether you play professionally or on the weekends, our experts can help you prevent injuries and bounce back fast when they happen.
Our sport and spine physical therapy doctors are highly trained to diagnose sports-related pain quickly using technology like MRI, ultrasound, and x-rays. We use cutting-edge treatments like Kinesio taping, shockwave therapy, muscle activation techniques, and non-surgical spinal decompression to speed up healing. For major injuries needing surgery, our partner orthopedic surgeons perform minimally invasive procedures.
Preventing injuries is a big focus too. Functional movement screenings catch weaknesses that raise injury risk. We create customized plans that combine strength training, stretching, and nutrition advice. This helps your body handle the stresses of sports. Young athletes learn to warm up properly, stay hydrated, and avoid overuse problems.
To boost performance, our certified trainers design workout routines personalized for your sport. Things like conditioning drills, core exercises, and flexibility training using Pilates make you as strong as possible on the field. Extra therapies like acupuncture and techniques that improve blood flow push you even further.
New technologies aid the process. Digital x-rays and MSK ultrasound scans find issues quickly. Devices for assessing brain function aid in comebacks. Integrating manual care, massage, and mind-body practices also speeds recovery.
A team approach at our California spine center helps keep you playing sports injury-free and at your best. Our goal is to support health, fitness, and enjoyment through every stage of life in sports.
Sport & Spine Physical Therapy Near Me
We offer full spine & sport physical therapy services at our clinic in Costa Mesa, California. Our specialized team of licensed PTs has extensive experience rehabilitating injuries to allow athletes to return to play.
After an evaluation, we create individualized treatment plans that may include hands-on manual therapy techniques, therapeutic exercises customized for your needs, modalities like Shockwave Therapy, Muscle Activation Techniques and an individualized home exercise program. Our goal is to alleviate pain, improve mobility and function, restore muscle balance and stability, and get you back in the game at full strength with a long term plan for injury prevention.
Whether your needs are short term after an acute injury or more involved for a chronic condition, we'll get you back on the road to recovery.
Sports Cupping
So how does cupping work? Either heat or air is used to create a suction in special cups that are placed on the body. The vacuum that’s created pulls the skin and blood vessels in toward the cup, which is why they can leave marks on the skin. Cupping is thought to pull blood to a certain area, improve circulation, and loosen up muscles and joints.
In addition, the fascia that lies below the skin is given more room from the tenting effect of the cup which in turn improves blood flow to that layer. There’s also some suggestion that it has anti-inflammatory effects.
Cupping Therapy is not simply a “hickey” meant to “bruise” the person and magically “heal” someone. In the United States, it is most often associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine, however, it has deep roots throughout Asia and Eastern Europe. At South West Health, we also employ a cupping technique where we gently move and slide the cups over the skin during the therapy. This helps facilitate blood flow and often prevents the “hickey” effect. This would also be considered another form of soft tissue manipulation.
It is difficult to fully recover from an injury when the muscle, tendons, and connective tissue are “vacuum packed” to your bone? Cupping helps to loosen it up so we can activate, strengthen, or stretch it.
Cupping Therapy has helped lead Sports Medicine into another generation of managing injury for Elite Athletes and everyday people.