Hello Readers!

In response to requests made by my students, today I’m going to talk a little about how Acupuncture can be beneficial after sports practices by professionals and non-professionals alike.

When we talk about physical activity, we have to remember that the lever for our movements is held by bones and muscles. Bones/joints need to be strong, muscles move and end up having micro physiological breaks that when they heal will promote an increase in muscle mass.

In Chinese Medicine, bones/joints are the responsibility of the Kidney, while muscles have two organs that control them: The Spleen – in relation to muscle strength and the Liver – in relation to elasticity and also control over tendons and ligaments.

Thus, whenever an individual practices moderate or strong physical activity, the Kidney, Spleen and Liver organs are used at their maximum power and in the post-exercise period they need to be rebalanced so that recovery is faster, enabling even stronger and stronger training in the sequence. an improvement in performance.

What points can we use to recover faster an individual after physical activity?

To reset Kidney power: KI-3, KI-7, CV4 may be helpful. KI-3 balances Kidney Qi. KI-7, on the other hand, will tone the Yang energy of the Kidney, which is the most used in physical activities, due to its ability to move and warm up the body. CV-4 will protect the vital essence and give the body a feeling of being rested.
To nourish the Spleen: SP-3, SP-6 and SP-8 are important. SP-3 will help circulate Spleen Qi and blood and SP-6 and SP-8 will nourish your blood, which will help restore strength and heal muscle fibers that are naturally broken during exercise.
To nourish the Liver: LI-3 and LI-8 are extremely relevant. LI-3 is a point that keeps the circulation of Qi and Blood harmonic throughout the body, a function that is necessary for the body to restore its normality after exercise. The LI-8 point will tone the liver’s blood and allow nutrition and oxygenation of the muscles, tendons and ligaments, allowing all muscle tension generated by the exercise to dissipate faster, also relieving post-activity pain.

In addition to these points, GB-34 and GB-39 have great action on the musculature and may also help in the recovery process of the practitioner of physical activity.

Blood-producing foods such as roots, legumes and dark green vegetables should be consumed at least twice a day until the individual feels that he has fully recovered.

In auriculotherapy, the Kidney, Spleen and Liver points can be used, in addition to the Muscle Relaxation point and the point of the reflex site that eventually became more painful after the exercise, such as Knee, Shoulder, Lumbar Vertebrae, etc…

In summary, acupuncture has an excellent post-exercise result and should be done whenever the patient wants to recover more quickly before the next workout, or even gain performance.

I hope you enjoyed.

A hug with great affection!

Prof. Fernanda Mara