Written by widely respected acupuncture expert Yun-tao Ma, PhD, LAc, Biomedical Acupuncture for Sports and Trauma Rehabilitation shows techniques that will enhance athletic performance, accelerate recovery after intensive workouts, and speed trauma rehabilitation after injuries or surgeries. Evidence-based research is used to support the best and most effective techniques, with over 100 illustrations showing anatomy, injury, and clinical procedures. Unlike many other acupuncture books, this book uses a Western approach to make it easier to understand rationales, master techniques, and integrate biomedical acupuncture into your practice. "Finally, a well-referenced, common sense approach to dry needling in sports medicine that discusses maintenance, overtraining, and the effect of the stress response in athletes. This is a long-awaited book that will leave you feeling comfortable with a technique that is very useful not only for athletes, but for all patients of your practice." Rey Ximenes, MD The Pain and Stress Management Center Austin, Texas "For any clinician involved with assisting athletes recover from injury, as well as providing services to enhance physical performance, this text will be indispensable. This book is a major accomplishment in the field of sports injury and treatment of musculoskeletal and neurological pain." Mark A. Kestner, DC, FIAMA, CCSP, CSCS Kestner Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee Unique! Explores acupuncture treatments for sports injuries in the acute phase, rehabilitation, and prevention. Includes acupuncture for performance enhancement and injury prevention, emphasizing pre-event acupuncture used to help increase muscle output, assist with pre-competition stress, and prevent soft tissue injury. Provides evidence-based research to show the science behind the best and most effective techniques, based on the author's background in neuroscience and cell biology and his 35 years of clinical acupuncture experience. Offers an overview of the science of biomedical acupuncture including the mechanisms of acupuncture, anatomy and physiology of acupoints, and discussion of human healing potential. Uses terminology and concepts familiar to Western-trained health professionals, making the material easier to understand and incorporate into practice. Includes more than 100 illustrations showing anatomy, injury, and clinical procedures. Covers useful techniques including those that increase muscle force output, joint flexibility and stability; prevent sports injuries like muscle sprain, tendonitis, bone strain, stress/fatigue fracture and bone spurs; reinforce muscle output for specific sports; normalize physiology of dysfunctional soft tissues; predict treatment response; reduce physiological stress; use the new Vacuum Therapy for deep tissue dysfunctions; and balance the biomechanics of musculoskeletal system.