Athletes and Chiropractic

One of the best kept secrets is that athletes visit chiropractors.  In fact, athletes have benefited from chiropractic care for many years.  Athletes of all types, from weekend warriors to world-class champs utilize chiropractic because it is a drug-free way to achieve better health and performance.  Just as chiropractic can benefit athletes, it can benefit you in terms of better health and performance.

Chiropractic adjustments help ensure that the body functions as effectively as possible, which can maximize healing and recovery from all types of injuries.  The list of athletes using chiropractic care is long.  31% on NFL teams use chiropractors in an official capacity, 77% of trainers have referred their athletes to chiropractors for adjustments and spinal evaluations.  A survey of certified NFL trainers revealed that 100% of them agree that players will use chiropractic care without referral from the team medical staff.

Proper Nerve Supply is essential for optimal body functioning.

The nervous system controls every activity in the body by sending and receiving nerve messages.  The spine is designed for two reasons. Protection and motion.  The skull completely encases the brain and the vertebrae/back bones completely encase the spinal cord.  The spine consists of 24 movable bones because if it were on solid bone we wouldn't be able to bend, twist, move, pick up our kids, play sports, etc.  Unfortunately, because of stress (usually a physical stress especially in athletes) these vertebrae can move out of alignment and get fixated or stuck and they no longer move the way they were designed to move.  This causes stress on the nerves around it and stress on the nervous system, hence, causing the body to lose function.  - this is termed a 'subluxation'. 

Chiropractors detect and correct vertebral subluxations.  This restores the spine and nervous system to a more optimal level of function, and maximizes the body's performance and healing potential. 

Anyone who engages in athletics can benefit from regular chiropractic checkups to ensure that their spine is balanced and free from structural stress and subluxations.  When the spinal column is brought into balance and alignment, the body's nervous system and body biomechanics (posture) are maximized. 

Thomas Harris, MD says in The Sports Medicine Guide, "changes in the optimal spinal position produce spinal pathologies and loss of function.  Spinal pathologies destroy joint reflexes, arc fibers, and cause nerve impedance."  Postural strength and coordination are essential for injury prevention and sports performance.

In professional sports, injury is the number one reason for early retirement.  Overall, 67 billion dollars is spent each year for the treatment of athletic injuries.  There are essentially two categories that athletic injuries fall into: the acute or traumatic category, which is an injury that is the result of a sudden impact or unseen force; the the repetitive overuse category which is injury from such activities as repetitively swinging a racket or golf club.  In fact, virtually every workout results in micro injuries as the body is torn down and then rebuilt through rest and recovery. 

As a society, we have been conditioned to believe that symptoms are bad and the key to health and recovery is their removal.  However, symptoms are actually part of the body's healing and repair process.  They are the body's best efforts to heal itself.  By making symptoms our objective, we find that we are "healthy" by being symptom free.  And we'll do anything to make the symptoms go away.  By treating symptoms, you are suppressing the body's natural response and inhibiting the healing process.  Instead of treating symptoms, doctors should stimulate the body's defense to allow for completion of the healing process. 

Chiropractic helps the body heal itself.

Athletes don't get adjusted to "feel better", Athletes get adjusted to PERFORM BETTER! 

Call our Elkhorn