Winning at the Olympics or any professional sports event involves lots of long hard dedicated training. In addition, elite athletes are guided by equally as hard working coaches and they need to stay up to date with all the latest Sports Medicine advancements and knowledge. Taking the best quality food and nutritional supplements goes hand in hand with their strict training regime to try giving them that edge to obtain Gold!
As results have shown at the 2012 Olympics, 1-2 seconds can make all the difference.
To enhance the elite athlete’s performance many other types of treatment and care are used including hypnosis, psychotherapy, kinesiology, visualization, meditation, and massage and bio feedback.
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to improve health
and sports performance as well to treat sports injuries.
Many people think of only using acupuncture to address pain conditions and treat sports injuries but the fact is, acupuncture can be and is used to promote health, build immunity and enhance athlete performance. Chinese herbal medicine is also used to treat viruses, increase muscle strength and improve fitness.
Some Australian athletes have opted to use registered Acupuncturists and Chinese herbal medicine practitioners to assess and treat their injuries as well as to enhance their health and improve their fitness and strength.
Cate and Bronte Campbell were such Australian athletes who had post viral chronic fatigue and their illness had reached the point that they couldn’t even get into the swimming pool because of their sickness.
There is no effective Western medical treatment for chronic fatigue.
Registered TCM practitioner Greg Bantick of Brisbane used acupuncture, moxibustion and Chinese herbal medicine to treat them for some months and they recovered to the point that they came first and second in the Australian Olympic trials. The treatment he provided also increased their muscle strength and mass.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs paid off for Cate because she was part of the relay team in the women’s freestyle relay that won a Gold medal for Australia.
The current New Zealand government has stalled and delayed acupuncture and Chinese medicine registration since coming into power. The Olympic medical team had no interest in using acupuncture and Chinese medicine when approached in 2007 by Acupuncture NZ (previously known as The New Zealand Register of Acupuncturists Inc) and they still have no interest.
