College Football Team Using Acupuncture To Stay on the Field

It’s that time of year—the leaves are changing, the temperatures dropping, pumpkin spice lattes are being drank, and of course football is in high season.

Football is one of the most physically demanding sports for its participants, and it’s understandable that many players are often seeking as many different types of treatments to deal with their injuries and overall pain. And while most college and all professional teams employ big medical staffs that include doctors, trainers, and massage therapists, not too many have a team acupuncturist on staff. Boise State University is one of them.

A few years ago, a player on the Boise State team was dealing with a hamstring issue. The team medical staff had an idea—the player should try acupuncture to see if his injury would heal faster. They called on local licensed acupuncturist Dana Logan.

“They were flying out the next day, and I thought, ‘If this doesn’t work, acupuncture isn’t happening again.’ I had that session to make an impression, and it obviously worked,” Logan recalls.

The treatment was a success, and that that moment was the beginning of a fruitful relationship between the team and Logan. Logan’s treatment regiment isn’t just about helping heal players’ one-off injuries. She has developed treatments that help players with everything from improving range of motion, to properly functioning muscles, to helping players’ bodies be better prepared for post-football life, something we know many former football players struggle with after their playing days are over.

“Acupuncture in football is going to become more and more mainstream,” Logan said. “I think it’s awesome Boise State is ahead of it and has given it a chance.”

Many individual athletes utilize acupuncture to help stay on the field. As acupuncture gets more popular, there’s no doubt that more teams and organizations will encourage their players to seek it out.

Acupuncture and Sports

Athletes have to be in tip-top shape, and a lot goes into maintaining their body’s optimum strength. The daily grind of working out, practicing, and performing takes a toll. And when athletes get hurt, as those in the pro ranks almost inevitably do, the road to to recovery can be long and arduous. Whether an athlete is looking to stay free from injury or recovering from one, acupuncture is one way to keep a leg up on the opposition.

Peter D’Aquino calls himself a “sports acupuncturist”, and while he admits that that title is a bit made up—as “sports acupuncture” doesn’t truly exist—he has studied the ancient method of acupuncture and has developed a practice to specifically treat athletes.

“Sports acupuncture looks at things like anatomy, movement patterns, gait, posture, and trigger points, so it goes way beyond the old-fashioned ideas,” D’Aquino says. While there’s nothing “old-fashioned” about traditional and effective acupuncture methods, D’Aquino says he tries to look deeper on those ideas so he can better treat issues specific to athletes and the types of activities they partake in.

“I look into traditional TCM patterns that are previously established, but take it a step further and look into muscle testing, posture, and how someone is using their body,” D’Aquino says. “This helps me determine trigger points and where to place acupuncture needles.”

As acupuncture becomes a more popular pain and wellness treatment more broadly, there’s no doubt that more athletes will—and should—seek it out as a consistent part of their training and treatment regimen. The visibility of professional athletes who use acupuncture is growing. A few years ago, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers publicly thanked his acupuncturist for helping him recover quickly from an injury.

Rodgers isn’t alone. Other professional athletes who have publicly praised acupuncture are former NFL players Michael Strahan, James Harrison, James Farrior and Marcus Stroud; baseball players A.J. Burnett and Randy Johnson; NBA players Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley; and professional golfers Fred Couples and Gary Player.

And there are surely many more to come.