SPORTS & CHIROPRACTIC
Many musculoskeletal complaints arise from injuries sustained in sports. More and more we see athletic performance draw closer to the limits of human potential. Understanding the biomechanical principles involved helps us to prevent injury and restore functional integrity and stability through rehabilitation. While our lever-like extremities transmit forces and motion at a distance, they also favor musculoskeletal injuries by amplifying forces acting on the body's neuromusculoskeletal system.
The sheer volume of time put into training by athletes is often quite remarkable. For example, runners may compete and train over 200 miles per week, swimmers may spend four or five hours in the water daily, and the acquisition of skills for an event such as a pentathlon may utilize even longer periods per day. Thus, the exploitation of athletic prowess can easily be disrupted by major and minor injury problems.
There are good reasons why the athlete should seek a sports chiropractor for the treatment and rehabilitation of a sports injury. Active people are physically and emotionally different from non-active ones. Many physicians have not had special training in sports medicine or rehabilitation. Consequently, even outstanding physicians who don't treat athletes regularly can make mistakes in the diagnosis and treatment of athletes' neuromusculoskeletal injuries and problems.
While conditioning is emphasized in athletics, the motivation is frequently on winning, rather than on prevention of injury. While this seems illogical, chiropractors handling athletic injuries must understand this if they are to properly evaluate and provide service. The development of cooperation between team physician, family physician and chiropractor helps to reduce the problem of conflicting opinions, often delivered to an already confused athlete. The typical family doctor has little knowledge of the practicalities involved in specialized sports injury management, and should accept logical procedures and recommendations when explained by the chiropractor.
Sports chiropractic and chiropractic rehabilitation have received much attention recently. There have been considerable developments as well over the last decade. As with other areas of chiropractic, where knowledge and understanding are rapidly expanding, so do the treatments and remedies our patients receive.
