Fortunately for them, they have a whole staff of physicians and practitioners taking care of them and keeping them in peak performing condition — including acupuncturists.

Acupuncture, acupressure and cupping already have a long history of helping Olympic athletes reach the best possible conditioning pre-Olympics and pre-event, as well as helping them recover faster and feel better following rugged competition.

As described in the AP article, Athletes in Nagano Using Acupuncture to Cure Their Ills, Canadian speedskater Kevin Overland used acupuncture to recover from an injured hip and went home with a bronze medal. Hockey superstar Jaromir Jagr was able to overcome chronic groin injuries in time to represent the Czech Republic in Japan. The list goes on and on.

Athletes utilizing acupuncture recover from soreness and fatigue faster, feel stronger, are less emotionally stressed and feel more balanced, just to name a few benefits. Focus and balance (both energetically and physically) are as important and physical performance in so many Olympic sports.

Acupuncture & The Beijing Olympic Games

Chinese Olympic swimmer Wang Qun warms up for a race following a cupping treatment.

Acupuncture was highlighted prominently during NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. That was in part because of how totally integrated sports medicine and acupuncture are for that host nation and in part because acupuncture was offered free to athletes and officials in the Olympic Village throughout the Games.

NBC’s Olympic coverage that summer also featured the well-documented story of New York Times reporter James Reston, who in 1971 was in China for President Nixon’s famous trip and while there needed an emergency appendectomy. For his post-operative pain he received acupuncture rather than intense painkillers, which was a revelation for Reston in its approach and effectiveness. Once Reston returned to the States, he wrote in The Times about his experiences, and that reporting became one of the primary gateways for acupuncture into Western society.

Now the presence of acupuncture is being felt across Canada as part of host Vancouver’s Winter Games. Photos are popping up on Flickr and articles are being written for local and national publications with athletes raving about the benefits of acupuncture treatments. Let’s hope that “The True North Strong and Free” is feeling the positive effects of acupuncture long after the Games leave.

After one acupuncture treatment, the pain was gone he could walk normally again. He was at first in disbelief, and he probably was wishing he had come in sooner, knowing two years were lost to this injury. He wouldn’t have even come in at all if not for the urging of his wife to try something different in order to get a better result. But at least he came in when he did, still with years left to on some level enjoy playing the sport he loved.

This isn’t an isolated story; it happens here all the time.

Most professional athletes are now aware of the benefits of acupuncture and most pro teams either have an acupuncturist on staff or on a short call list for both new and repetitive injuries. But many recreational athletes—especially men—just don’t think to try acupuncture to recover faster (or recover at all) from sports-related injuries.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing, or maybe they’ve never had an opportunity to learn and understand what acupuncture and acupressure are all about. Whatever the case, too many athletes are in unnecessary pain and paying far more for other care that isn’t working.

What I would wish is for the club soccer players, the recreational football players, the pickup-game baseball guys and gals, the golf enthusiasts and even the ultimate Frisbee stars to THINK to come in for acupuncture RIGHT AFTER they suffer an injury or notice something “nagging.”

The sooner they get in, the faster they’ll heal. And often, all it takes is a single session—especially when caught early. So, we’re calling all sprained toes, sore shoulders, kinked necks, wrenched backs, damaged knees, “tennis elbows” and “dead” arms!

If you hurt it on the field, court, diamond, ice, slopes or track … make acupuncture your first resort instead of the last. And if you’ve already had a positive acupuncture experience, please spread the word. We want more play and less pain among our athletic friends in the Bay Area.