Whether you’re a professional athlete or a person who likes to stay active, acupuncture can help you feel great and perform at your best! Every time I read about an elite or international competition, I quickly hear about some athletes who are using acupuncture. Why are athletes turning to Traditional Chinese Medicine? No drugs, few to no side effects, and a multitude of benefits.

I don’t need to remind you that training hard can incur injuries (and awaken old ones), incite inflammation, and increase joint and muscle soreness. Athletes use acupuncture because it is wonderful for relieving pain, increasing circulation, decreasing inflammation, and speeding up recovery from injuries and tough workouts. To see specific ways elite athletes have effectively used acupuncture, read below.

5 Amazing Athletes Who Use Acupuncture

1. Daniel Kowalski an Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze medalist in swimming, made this video discussing how acupuncture was integral to maintaining his health while he trained for the Olympics and afterward. He stated that acupuncture helped him recover from shoulder injuries, improved his sleep, fended off colds and flu, while simultaneously enhancing his general well being.

2. Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant took to twitter and posted this picture of him receiving acupuncture for his leg injury.

3. Just last week, Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour de France while being treated with acupuncture everyday throughout the arduous 3 week race. Eddy De Smedt L.Ac., a Belgian acupuncturist, treated all the cyclists on Team Astana. His treatments focused on assisting the racers with pain relief, quick recovery, and rest.

4. My favorite twitter pal, Olympic bronze medal winner Dee Dee Trotter, is a huge advocate for acupuncture. She began using acupuncture when she was dealing with “a lot of unanswerable muscular issues” and her coach at the time suggested she try it. She has become such a fan that her hometown acupuncturist accompanied her to London when she competed in the 2012 Olympic games.  She won the bronze medal in the 400 meter run. Way to go DeeDee!

5. Ray Emery – The Chicago Blackhawk used acupuncture to help in his long recovery process after hip surgery in 2010.

You can see that these 5 athletes have turned to acupuncture for injury rehabilitation, sleep, general health, pain relief, peak performance and much more. What are all you athletes waiting for?