Conditions · Sports Injuries
Care to get you back to your sport, not just out of pain.
Strains, sprains, tendinopathies, overuse injuries — IPGMN treats the injuries that come with running, lifting, hockey, golf, and every other way Minnesotans stay active.
What it is
What is a sports injury?
A sports injury is a musculoskeletal injury that happens during athletic activity. That includes the obvious ones — sprained ankle, pulled hamstring, jammed shoulder — and the less-obvious ones that build over time, like runner’s knee, tennis elbow, or low back pain that flares with every lifting session.
At Integrated Provider Group of Minnesota (IPGMN), we treat the full range — from weekend warriors and recreational athletes to high school, college, and competitive adults. The goal isn’t just to make the pain go away. It’s to figure out why the injury happened and rebuild whatever needs rebuilding so you can get back to the sport without it happening again.
Common Symptoms
What sports injuries feel like
The patterns we see most often in active patients.
- Pain during or after activity
- The injury is loudest when you’re using the part it affects.
- Stiffness or limited motion
- You can’t reach the range you used to without the body protesting.
- Swelling
- A joint or area puffs up after training, sometimes for a day or two.
- Weakness or instability
- The limb feels like it might give way, especially under load.
- Catching, clicking, or popping
- The joint feels noisy, sometimes painfully so.
- Pain that builds over weeks
- Classic overuse pattern — nothing happened, but it keeps getting worse.
- Recurrent flare-ups
- The same injury keeps coming back every season.
- Loss of performance
- Times slip, lifts feel heavier, you’re a step slower than you should be.
What Causes Them
Where sports injuries usually come from
Most sports injuries are not bad luck. They’re a stack of small problems that finally exceed what the body can absorb.
Acute trauma
A specific moment — the rolled ankle, the awkward landing, the missed catch.
Overuse
Doing too much, too fast, with not enough recovery. The most common cause we see.
Movement-pattern issues
The way you load, hinge, rotate, or absorb force determines how much wear ends up on the parts.
Strength imbalances
Most chronic sports injuries trace back to a missing piece of strength somewhere in the chain.
Mobility limitations
Stiff hips, ankles, or thoracic spine push load onto joints that weren’t built to absorb it.
Old injuries that healed wrong
The body adapts around an old injury, and those adaptations become the source of the next one.
When to seek urgent care
Some sports injuries are an emergency.
Most sports injuries are safe to treat with integrated chiropractic care. The signs below mean you should seek medical evaluation first.
Get evaluated by a medical provider first if you have:
- Severe pain or obvious deformity after an impact.
- An inability to bear weight or use a limb.
- Sudden, significant swelling.
- A head injury with confusion, vision changes, vomiting, or loss of consciousness.
- Numbness, tingling, or weakness that came on suddenly after an injury.
How IPGMN Treats Them
A plan to recover — and to come back stronger.
Most sports injury plans at IPGMN combine several of the following:
Chiropractic Care
Restores motion to spine and extremity joints so the body can absorb load the way it’s supposed to.
Learn more →Soft Tissue Therapy
Releases the muscle and fascia restrictions that limit performance and drive overuse injuries.
Learn more →Corrective Exercise
Sport-specific rehab that rebuilds the strength, control, and capacity your sport actually demands.
Learn more →EMS & Ultrasound
Eases muscle spasm and supports tissue healing during the early phase of recovery.
Learn more →What a Care Plan May Look Like
A typical sports injury care plan
Every plan is personalized to your sport, the injury, and your timeline.
Calm it down
Reduce pain and inflammation with hands-on care, soft tissue work, and modalities. Modify training as needed.
Restore motion
Mobility work to free what’s stuck and load tissue progressively as it can handle it.
Return to sport
Sport-specific rebuilding so the injury stays gone and your performance keeps moving.
Available at These Locations
Sports injury care at all 7 IPGMN clinics
Choose the clinic closest to you. Same-week appointments are usually available.
Related Conditions
Often connected to sports injuries
The most common body parts where sports injuries show up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about sports injury care
Can a chiropractor treat sports injuries?
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Yes. Chiropractors are trained to evaluate and treat the musculoskeletal injuries that come with athletic activity — sprains, strains, joint dysfunction, and overuse. At IPGMN we combine hands-on care with rehab to get athletes back to performance, not just out of pain.
How fast can I get back to my sport?
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It depends on the injury, the demands of the sport, and how the injury is responding to care. Your provider will give you a realistic timeline at the first visit, with milestones along the way so you know you’re on track.
Do I need imaging?
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No — imaging is not required before your first appointment. Your provider will complete a thorough physical and movement examination at your first visit, which gives us the information we need to begin your care. If you have existing X-rays or MRI results from a prior evaluation, feel free to bring them along — they can be helpful context, but they are never a requirement. If imaging is needed as part of your care, your provider will discuss that with you directly.
Should I keep training through it?
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some injuries resolve faster with modified training; others need a full deload. Your provider will give you specific guidance based on your sport and what they find.
When should I see a medical doctor instead?
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Severe pain or obvious deformity after an impact, an inability to bear weight or use a limb, sudden swelling, or any sign of a serious head injury are reasons to seek emergency care first.
Ready to get back?
Same-week appointments at all 7 Twin Cities locations.
