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Sports and Chiropractic
"The team wasn't just riders. It was mechanics, masseurs, chefs, soigneurs & doctors. But the most important man on the team may have been the chiropractor"
Lance Armstrong-7 time Tour de France winner
Many athletes in professional sports today sit on the sidelines with injuries that could have been prevented. Others stay on the bench because their particular injury does not respond to other standard treatments. And even more are playing, but at less than optimal performance, simply because their musculoskeletal system is not in balance.
More and more coaches, teams, and medical doctors are realizing that pain management and medications are not the answer. Pain medication only covers up the symptoms; misleading athletes into thinking they can perform actions that could make their injury worse. Probably more than any other health profession, chiropractic's approach to health very closely caters to the requirements of the sports athlete. Because Doctors of Chiropractic are experts in the field of human biomechanics, they are very aware of proper posture and movement. Most sports involve some form of contact, fast starts and stops, and abrupt changes in positioning that place a large amount of strain on the musculoskeletal system. By promoting a proactive, preventive strategy, chiropractors help athletes decrease the likelihood of injury and maximize athletic performance.
World class and Olympic athletes, as well as professional stars and teams, have retained sports chiropractors to provide regular chiropractic care. In fact, all but one of the 32 teams in the National Football League (NFL) utilizes the services of a chiropractor in management and prevention of injury to their players. Many of these athletes insist on being adjusted just before an event or competition. They feel that they will be better able to perform to the best of their abilities when their chiropractor has adjusted their bodies to provide for full range of motion.
Chiropractic is a natural method of health care that focuses on the importance of keeping all the systems of the body functioning efficiently so athletes can enjoy peak performance, minimum risk to injury, and fast recuperation. For all of these reasons, it is essential to take a proactive position and schedule regular chiropractic wellness visits. In the athletic environment the body is often exerted beyond the normal scope of normal biomechanical function. Great athletes push through pain to win the game or better their time. It is in these intense moments when the body is very susceptible to injury. Joints in the body can be stressed or harmed and then ignored due to the nature of the competition. The lack of correction impairs the proper function of the joint and thus hurts the performance of the athlete.
Why Extremity Adjusting?
Extremity adjusting restores the proper position of strained joints, turns the muscles back on, and enhances overall athletic capabilities.
The term used to describe this relationship is the Kinetic Chain. If the feet are connected to the legs and the legs are connected to the back, then it is safe to conclude that a condition in the feet can affect the low back. If the shoulders are connected to the neck, then structural problems of the bones in the shoulder (clavicles and scapulas) can directly affect neck pain. Because there is such an intimate relationship and influence of one joint to every other in the body, extremity adjusting is essential for providing quality health care.