Background

SPORTS ACUPUNCTURE

What is Sports Acupuncture?

Anjuna Sports Acupuncture uses thin needles that are filiform and inserted into various areas on the body to induce positive therapeutic outcomes for high-performance athletes. The primary reason patients seek Sports Acupuncture therapy at our clinic is for pain management and rehabilitation.

Anjuna Sports Acupuncture significantly expands upon fundamental Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approaches to the treatment of orthopedic conditions. Dr. Heide performs an orthopedic evaluation of musculoskeletal injury, understands the biomechanics of conditions, generates a TCM diagnosis, and implements a treatment plan.

This treatment approach applies TCM principles to Western biomedical diagnosis; uses biomedical facts to help explain TCM principles, thus fully integrating both medical paradigms. As a result, the assessment and treatment strategies become highly effective for high-performance athletes.

Typical Patients treated by Dr. Heide:

University of Oregon Duck Athletics Department Teams including Duck Football players, Duck Track and Field, Duck Baseball and Softball.
Professional Runners (Nike, Columbia)
Professional Skiers and Snowboarders (Burton, Rossignol)
Professional Rock Climbers (Five Ten, Evolv, LaSportiva)
Olympic Athletes (Track, Field, Marathon, Downhill Skiers)
NCAA Champions (UO Duck Football, UO Duck Track & Field)

Conditions Treated with Anjuna Sports Acupuncture

Dr. Heide holds advanced training certificates in DN-ET and Trigger Point Therapy. He performs an orthopedic evaluation of musculoskeletal injury, understands the biomechanics of conditions, and generates a working diagnosis with treatment approaches consistent with the patient’s referring physician notes.

Common Conditions treated include:

Muscle and tendon injury
ITB Syndrome
Hamstring Strain/Sprain
Ligament damage, including common sprains
Joint injury as well as chronic arthritis and inflammation
Acute and chronic low back and neck pain
Dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system

FOCUS AREAS

LEGS
  • Shin splints, both anterior and medial
  • Achilles tendonitis
  • Plantar fasciitis
  • Ankle sprain
  • “Big toe” (1st MTP joint) osteoarthritis
  • Morton’s neuroma
  • Pes anserinus inflammation
  • Metatarsalgia achilles bursitis
  • Fat pad syndrome

SHOULDERS

Muscle strain, tears, tendonitis, and inflammation usually respond well to acupuncture. Other injuries that benefit include bicepital tendonitis, frozen shoulder, and shoulder impingement syndrome. Dr. Heide has effectively treated the following shoulder conditions:

  • Supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendonitis
  • AC joint separation, AC joint arthritis
  • Bicepital tendonitis, biceps tendonosis
  • Levator scapulae syndrome
  • Stiff Neck
  • Shoulder impingement syndrome
  • Shoulder bursitis
  • Pectoralis muscle syndrome
  • Frozen shoulder

ARMS
  • Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
  • Medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow, climber’s elbow)
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Arthritis of the wrist, hand, and finger joints

HIPS AND PELVIS
  • Hip (trochanteric) bursitis
  • Osteoarthritis of the hip joint
  • Sacral-iliac joint dysfunction
  • Piriformis syndrome
  • The sacral-tuberous ligament

KNEES
  • Ligament sprain (MCL, LCL).
  • Patellar tendonitis
  • Patello-femoral joint pain, chondromalacia
  • Ilio-tibial band syndrome

BENEFITS OF SPORTS ACUPUNCTURE

SPORTS INJURIES

Sports Acupuncture enables treatment of chronic and acute sports related injuries and significantly reduces recovery time.

WEEKEND WARRIORS

Sports Acupuncture provides excellent recovery assistance for weekend warriors who need an extra boost.

HIGH PERFORMANCE

Sports Acupuncture helps deliver break-through healing for high performance, professional or collegiate athletes.

YOUNG ADULTS

Sports Acupuncture is a great option for young adults in high school sports who are injured and want to get back on the court.

Background
What is dry needling?

Anjuna Medicine uses dry needling to stimulate the healing process of soft tissues to achieve pain relief and restoration of healthy physiology. Dr. Heide does this by inserting a thin filiform needle into distressed trigger points in the muscle to stimulate a muscle twitch, and ultimately, release. This technique is unparalleled at its ability to identify and eliminate neuromuscular dysfunction and pain. Research supports that dry needling improves pain, reduces muscle tension, and facilitates an accelerated return to active rehabilitation.

What is a “trigger point”?

A myofascial trigger point is a irritable point in a muscle that is associated with a hypersensitive nodule, or “knot”. This area can be stimulated to alleviate pain in a region that is painful for a patient.

What is the difference between acupuncture and dry needling?

Traditional acupuncture is based on the tenets of Traditional Chinese Medicine to align one’s chi, or energy. Dr. Heide expands upon these ideas with an understanding of anatomy and physiology, biomechanics and orthopedics to directly target and address specific points of pain with dry needling.

Does it hurt?

The needle used is very thin and most patients do not even feel it penetrate the skin. A healthy muscle feels very little discomfort with insertion of this needle, but if the muscle is sensitive with active trigger points within it, the subject will feel a sensation like a muscle cramp called the twitch response.

Are there any side effects to dry needling?

Side effects may vary among individuals. Mild muscle soreness or skin bruising are most common.

CONDITIONS TREATED

LOWER BACK AND NECK PAIN

Both the neck and low back are common patient complaints. Injuries include sprain, strain, bulging or herniated discs, and soft tissue injury. Due to the complexity of both the low back and the neck, we will treat only those patients that can be helped with acupuncture. Low back and neck pain must use an integrated approach, combined with complimentary modalities such as Chiropractic, PT, massage, and therapeutic exercises.

ARTHRITIS AND JOINT CONDITIONS
  • Arthritis of the hip
  • Osteoarthritis of the 1st metatarsal-phalanges joint (the“big toe”)
  • AC joint arthritis and shoulder bursitis
  • Knee osteoarthritis (anterior, medial, or lateral compartments)
  • Arthritis of the smaller joints of the wrist, hand, and foot.

 TENDONITIS

Commonly treated tendons include:

  • The Achilles tendon
  • Tennis elbow (inflammation of the extensor tendon of the forearm)
  • Climber’s elbow (inflammation of the forearm flexor tendons)
  • Shin splints–(tendinous inflammation to either the anterior or the medial compartment muscles)

 OTHER PAIN SYNDROMES

Anjuna Sports Acupuncture may be considered a very effective modality for treating other injuries and pain syndromes. Those who might benefit from different modalities are referred to the best practitioners in the Anjuna network and referral system.