Sports Spine Specialist Chiropractic Team: Athletes strive to achieve their body’s maximum performance by participating in numerous training regimens consisting of strenuous exercises and physical activity and ensuring they meet all of their body’s nutritional requirements. Through proper fitness and nutrition, many individuals can condition themselves to excel in their specific sport. Our training programs are designed for athletes that look to gain a competitive edge in their sport.
We provide sport-specific services to help increase an athlete’s performance through mobility, strength, and endurance. Occasionally, however, the excess workouts can lead many to suffer injuries or develop underlying conditions. Dr. Alex Jimenez’s chronicle of articles for athletes displays in detail the many forms of complications affecting these professionals while focusing on the possible solutions and treatments to follow to achieve overall well-being.
There is no doubt that football is a rough sport. At times it can be downright brutal, especially on the body. The sport sees a myriad of injuries, some serious, including head and neck, ankle, knee, and spinal. Chiropractic care is quickly becoming a popular, viable method of not only treating injuries, but also for managing injury related pain and even injury prevention. There are several significant benefits that football players can glean from chiropractic care.
A survey exploring the prevalence of chiropractic care in the National Football League (NFL) showed that of the team trainers surveyed, 77 percent responded that they have referred players to a chiropractor for treat or evaluation. At that time, in 2002, 31 percent of the NFL teams have a team chiropractor on staff. Now all 32 of the NFL teams utilize chiropractic care for their players and staff.
College teams are also finding that chiropractic care can help their players. Virginia Tech has a chiropractor who routinely treats the players, helping them with injury recovery and physical health. The doctor has an office in the sports complex and the trainers are able to schedule appointments for the athletes.
The Benefits Of Chiropractic Treatment For Football Players
Improved Mobility
Chiropractic manipulative treatment (CMT), aka the chiropractic adjustment, is one of the primary chiropractic therapies in sports medicine. It helps to increase flexibility and minimize or eliminate pain in movement. CMT is often used by football players as an injury prevention measure. It has also been shown to improve athletic performance.
Solid Body Maintenance
The brutality of football leads to frequent injuries. However, soreness and stiffness are even more commonplace. Many players use chiropractic care to ease the general pain that comes from overexertion and rough play. They may not be injured, per se, but are experiencing the normal pain that comes with the territory when one is an athlete. Chiropractic care keeps the body working as it should at optimal athletic performance.
Pain Relief
Chiropractic care has long been recognized as an effective pain management tool and now athletes are discovering the benefits of chiropractic therapy as well. It has been shown to relieve headaches, particularly those stemming from head and neck injuries. It also relieves shoulder pain and pain from ankle and knee injuries such as sprains.
Injury Prevention
There is a direct correlation between athletes who regularly use chiropractic care and a decline in sports injuries. Those who use the treatment experience better flexibility and mobility which has been linked to injury prevention. Additionally, chiropractic care helps to increase strength and by making the body stronger it is more resistant to injury.
Increase Strength & Endurance
Chiropractic care has been linked with increased muscular strength. While it is often thought of as a way to relieve pain, it has been shown to effectively promote strength in the muscles after only a few sessions. This can help players avoid injury by combining the increase in strength with increased mobility. This also works to promote endurance and stamina.
Sports Hernia Relief
A significant amount of athletes experience groin pain due to injury. Athletic pubalgia is one of the most common causes of injury related groin pain. Also known as sports hernia, athletic pubalgia can cause significant pain. Chiropractic care has been shown to relieve the discomfort within 8 weeks when combined with rehabilitative exercises.
Chiropractic care plays a very important role in injury prevention, whole body care, and pain relief for athletes in one of the roughest sports in the world. These benefits can also be translated to other sports where injury is a frequent occurrence.
Yoga��increases the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment hasn’t taken the world by storm, but it has gained steadily in popularity in the last decade. Originally developed thousands of years ago, the practice of breathing, posing, and stretching offers a variety of important health benefits. Reduced stress and blood pressure, increased flexibility and stamina, greater balance, and a better understanding of breathing techniques are all fabulous results of practicing yoga.
In addition to the normal exercise benefits yoga offers, the practice serves as treatment for a variety of injuries and health conditions. Yoga embodies the recognition of the link between physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness, and reaches its fans in deeper ways than other forms of traditional exercise.
Although the two disciplines come from entirely different histories, the concept that yoga heals the body in its entirety closely mirrors the concept behind chiropractic care. These similar foundations offer enormous benefits to those suffering from a variety of injuries and conditions that seek help from a chiropractor. By incorporating yoga sessions into their treatment, chiropractic patients often reap great rewards.
Here are four reasons why:
Yoga Primes The Body For Healing
Practicing yoga stretches and elongates the body’s muscles, releasing tension and stress. Before patients visit their chiropractors, yoga can serve to warm up their bodies and clarify their minds, so the chiropractor can dig into the root problem. Yoga complements chiropractic treatment by readying the body to heal itself.
Yoga Increases Joint & Ligament Strength
Dealing with a health condition or injury is frustrating and can seem like it takes forever to heal. Implementing yoga into a recovery plan helps strengthen joints and ligaments, which aids in promoting healing and cutting down the time it takes to get better.
Yoga works on the body as a whole and promotes greater well-being from head to toe. A stronger body absorbs chiropractic care more productively and deeply than one that is stiff, sore, and unhealthy.
Yoga Increases Range Of Motion
Depending on the severity of the individual’s specific condition, chiropractic patients may need several visits to “prep” their bodies before the main issue can even be addressed. Yoga sessions increase a body’s flexibility and help with the range of motion in the neck, back, hips, and other joints. By going into a chiropractic treatment equipped with better range of motion, the patient is more pliable, and the visit is able to offer more in-depth adjustments, for greater results.
Prevents Future Injury
Many reasons individuals seek chiropractic treatment are for recurring issues. Yoga provides an ongoing way for patients dealing with chronic issues to manage and reduce instances of pain, inflammation, and other symptoms. A regimen of yoga coupled with chiropractic care keeps the body aligned, its balance level, the muscles stretched and de-stressed, and the joints operating efficiently.
Both also serve to keep posture correct, and ligaments strong. All of these results create a body that is less susceptible to future injury, and less inclined for previous medical conditions to resurface. Individuals enjoy greater mobility longer, all without changing their active lifestyles.
Yoga has long been touted as the answer for many of the body’s issues, and it’s smart for individuals, whether dealing with current issues or in prime health, to check out the basics of yoga. Chiropractic care coupled with yoga offers a great many benefits to patients who are dealing with medical conditions or injury. Ask your chiropractor for an evaluation of your health issues, and whether adding yoga to your overall health plan would help you lead a better, more active life.
Chiropractic Keeps Nastia Liukin’s Body In Balance
Shin Splint: Whether you are an avid exerciser, an exuberant shopper, or a small child chaser, you have probably felt tightening and burning in your shin at one point in your life. Sometimes, the pain stops when the activity ceases, but other times the pain remains. If shin pain continues bothering you, it may be time to face the fact you have shin splints.
The shin is a bone located in the front part of your lower leg. Shin splints commonly occur in athletes who have intensified or changed their training routines. They also show up in regular people who have changed or added activity to their routine.
The shin has a lot of responsibility during exercise, as it absorbs the shock of the steps, raises the toes, and support the arch of the foot.
A few main culprits play a part in shin splints:
failing to stretch properly before exercising
walking or running on hard surfaces, like pavement
wearing the wrong type of shoes during activity
over-exerting the body with strenuous activity
skipping periods of rest between exercise
Individuals who perform any type of exercise should take appropriate measures to alleviate the above risk factors of shin splints. If you notice pain and soreness in the front part of your lower leg, know how to treat this injury properly.
If rest and ice aren�t doing the job and you’re still suffering pain, it’s time to see a doctor. A thorough exam and possibly an x-ray will diagnose the problem.
Chiropractic care is a powerful choice for treating shin splints and reducing their recurrence.
Chiropractic Treatment Benefits Those Suffering From Shin Splint/s:
Reduction In Pain
Chiropractic is proven to relieve the pain associated with bodily injuries and medical conditions, including shin splints. Sometimes one visit is enough to relieve the pain, other times the pain decreases over a series of appointments. Being able to diminish a high degree of pain down to a manageable level is possible for shin splint patients through chiropractic.
Full Body Alignment
The premise behind chiropractic is that it treats the body as a whole, and, in doing so, promotes healing and health to the injured or diseased areas. A chiropractor may work on your neck to help your calf. With shin splints, he or she may align your spine and joints to lessen the impact of activity on your shins. Again, the entire body is treated in order to create the best environment for health restoration.
Healing Through Adjustments
Treating shin splints is a common procedure for chiropractors. Common practice is to adjust the calf, ankle, and foot to stretch and increase blood flow to the area.
Drug Free Treatment Option
A primary benefit of chiropractic care is it requires no over-the-counter or prescription drugs. Individuals who suffer from stomach issues, or simply prefer to avoid drugs, find chiropractic visits a productive alternative to manage pain and promote healing.
It’s routine for chiropractic treatment of shin splints to include a series of stretching and strengthening exercises the individual performs at home between visits. These exercises further expand on the positive effects of the chiropractic therapy.
If you are one of the many people dealing with shin splints, don’t despair! Consider chiropractic care as your main treatment option or in conjunction with other modes of treatment. Within a few visits, you will experience pain reduction, and enjoy a decreased risk of ever dealing with painful shin splints again.
Soccer is one of the most popular team sports in the United States, and offers an excellent form of exercise to children and adults alike. Unfortunately, the nature of the sport, the repeated movement and the chance of collision, add up to quite a few opportunities for injury.
Lower and upper extremity injuries, overuse injuries, and head, neck, and face injuries are commonplace. According to Stanford Children’s Health, “88,000 children 8-14 were treated in an emergency room for soccer-related injuries.”
Soccer players who take certain precautionary measures decrease their chances of injury. Let�s look at three ways you can avoid injury as a soccer player:
#1: Soccer: Use Proper Equipment
Donning proper fitting cleats, uniforms, and shin guards decrease the risk of being hurt in the first place. Make adjustments often, especially if the player is growing rapidly or fluctuates in weight.
#2: Get Checked Out By A Chiropractor Pre-Season
Soccer players who allow their fitness less to lapse increase the chance of injury. Visit a Doctor of Chiropractic to ensure there are no underlying issues with participating in strenuous activity. A chiropractor is also able to make sure the spine is aligned and muscles and joints are strong and functioning properly.
#3: Pay Attention To The Surroundings
A field that is not kept up well offers a greater chance of turning an ankle or falling. It’s vital to check out the playing area beforehand and note any uneven areas that could cause a player to trip.
In addition, consider the weather. Muddy, slick fields create extra issues, and particularly hot temperatures make players run the risk of dehydration or heat stroke. Prepare for weather issues in advance of the game.
If, even though you take all of these precautions, you still end up injured, there are several options for treatment. The injury is hopefully mild and heals on its own after a few days of rest. More serious injuries require a doctor visit, and one of these three treatments.
First, ice and elevate it: Keep weight off the injured area as much as possible, and elevate it with pillows. Use an ice bag wrapped in a towel to keep down swelling and inflammation. If the injury is painful, over the counter medication helps reduce discomfort.
Then, take a break: The last decision you want to make is to begin playing too soon and re-injure yourself. With more serious injuries, sitting out of a few games, or even an entire season, is a choice that promotes healing and health. Talk to your chiropractor about the timeframe the injury needs to be able to recover correctly, and follow his or her advice.
Finally, keep your chiropractic adjustments: Chiropractors are trained in treating the neuromusculoskeletal system as a whole. Many of the injuries suffered from soccer show an improvement after a few chiropractic visits.
Spinal and joint alignment, muscle healing, and tendon relaxation are all techniques chiropractors employ to promote and hasten healing. Additionally, chiropractors give insight on valuable ways to use nutrition and exercise to keep the body functioning at optimum capacity, to avoid re-injury.
Enjoying physical activity is essential to maintain a routine that provides a healthy, active lifestyle, and joining a soccer team is a great choice for children as well as adults. Knowing the advance precautions to put in place to avoid injury will help keep you strong and safe.
If, however, you or your child end up hurt, these forms of treatment will lessen healing time and get you back in the game at full speed. So give us a call to schedule your next appointment before you get back out on the pitch.
Chiropractic Treatment For Concussions
This article is copyrighted by Blogging Chiros LLC for its Doctor of Chiropractic members and may not be copied or duplicated in any manner including printed or electronic media, regardless of whether for a fee or gratis without the prior written permission of Blogging Chiros, LLC.
Baseball Injuries: The crack of a ball against your bat, good! The crack of a back or shoulder, bad!
Baseball, the nationwide pass time, heats up in summer. From little league on up, individuals enjoy swinging the bat and running the bases. Unfortunately, the movements baseball requires can wreak havoc on a person’s body, leaving them with strained backs, hurt shoulders, and pulled muscles. According to Livestrong, there are over 600,000 injuries from playing baseball per year, and 5-14 year olds suffer from 117,000 of them.
The aspects of the game � running, sliding, twisting, and jumping � cause the body to maneuver into awkward positions. If you or a loved one has slid into first and felt a pop, or twisted to catch a fly ball and felt a snap, chiropractic care offers several ways to help put you on the road to a complete recovery.
Baseball Injuries: Manage Pain
Baseball injuries frequently involve large muscles, resulting in a high degree of pain. Chiropractic treatment offers relief from severe pain of many injuries involving the spine, muscles, and joints.
Using spinal adjustments, a chiropractor is able to help the body align itself properly, and sooth the injured area. Once the body functions normally, pain is diminished. Sometimes this can be accomplished in one visit, while other injuries require a few sessions before pain diminishes.
Increase Mobility
A strained neck, pulled back, or overextended knee may cause the individual serious issues in being able to move. Limping around slowly is nobody’s idea of fun!
Chiropractic adjustments are proven to help reduce inflammation and improve mobility in many injury cases. If that last baseball game has you unable to put weight on your knee, your neck won’t twist without pain, or your shoulder won’t lift your arm, it may be time to visit a chiropractor for evaluation.
Promote Healing
The premise of chiropractic care is to treat the entire body as a whole, not just the injured part. As the body becomes better aligned, it functions at a higher capacity, and begins to heal itself.
Most injuries resulting from playing baseball, such as tendonitis, strained muscles, torn rotator cuffs, and the like, heal faster with chiropractic care. Increased blood flow to the injured area, and less pressure on the body part (usually due to misalignment of the spine) allow the injured area to regenerate, and a greater chance to begin healing faster than without chiropractic care.
Avoid Medication
Even over-the-counter pain and anti-inflammatory drugs cause side effects in certain individuals. Allergies, stomach issues, and other reasons result in many injured people steering clear of medication to relieve pain and inflammation.
Chiropractic care provides these individuals a drug-free, less invasive way to help manage the pain and promote healing. More people every year are choosing to visit a chiropractor for pain relief instead of popping pain medicine.
Before jumping into a baseball game, or even if you or your children play regularly, remember that prevention is worth its weight in gold. Take care of your body by stretching beforehand, being aware of your physical limits, maintaining proper posture, and staying hydrated during the game. With a little extra effort, the chance of a baseball injury can be dramatically decreased.
Summer fun often includes activities such as baseball, whether in a league or in your back yard with your family. Avoid suffering from an injury as best you can, and, if you or your child end up with an achy knee, twisted elbow, or smarting shoulder, call you chiropractor to schedule a thorough evaluation as quickly as possible.
Prevention, Recognition & Management Of Youth Sports Injuries
This article is copyrighted by Blogging Chiros LLC for its Doctor of Chiropractic members and may not be copied or duplicated in any manner including printed or electronic media, regardless of whether for a fee or gratis without the prior written permission of Blogging Chiros, LLC.
Stay Hydrated: Summer fun means outside activities in the warm sun, from strenuous pursuits like biking, hiking, and volleyball-playing, to more leisurely enjoyments like sunbathing on a float. No matter how you plan to enjoy the steamy summer months, maintaining hydration should be right up there with sunscreen on your list of important hot weather priorities.
Dehydration is a condition that ranges from mild to serious, and can happen quicker than you think. Right Diagnosis defines dehydration as “an abnormal condition in which the body’s cells are deprived of an adequate amount of water.” One of the main situations factoring into a person becoming dehydrated is heat.
Think you drink enough water and don’t need to worry about dehydration? Consider these points:
The ability to recognize thirst diminishes in individuals in their late 30’s or older.
A person’s body is made up of roughly 70% water.
When you lose 2% of the body’s water content, you are considered dehydrated.
Dehydration symptoms range from unpleasant confusion, muscle weakness, and fatigue to extremely dangerous ones like seizures, kidney failure, and death. The good news is that if you stay hydrated in the first place is relatively easy if you take a few precautions up front.
#1: Drink Plenty Of Water
Make it a habit of carrying water with you during the summer months, and sipping on it throughout the day, especially if you are planning on outside activities. Invest in a couple of BPA-free water bottles for yourself and your family to tote with them on their summer adventures.
Not a big fan of plain water? Try adding lemon, cucumber, and mint sprigs to liven it up! Mix up in a big pitcher the night before so the flavor has time to penetrate. Another option is flavor packets, which are individual packets of flavors like green tea, watermelon, and peach.
#2: Eat The Right Foods
Liquids aren’t the only way your body gets water. Avoid dehydration by eating foods with a high water content.
Choices like celery, watermelon, cucumbers, carrots, and citrus fruits all offer exceptional hydrating ability. Pack these as snacks for the pool or beach, or to enjoy before and after an outdoor workout.
#3: Steer Clear Of Certain Drinks
As yummy and refreshing as an icy beer or frosty margarita tastes, alcohol can contribute to dehydration. If you decide to indulge, limit yourself to one or two, and drink a large glass of water along with your beverage to counteract the alcohol’s effects.
#4: Avoid Overexertion
Exercise is a wonderfully healthy pursuit; however, keep an eye on the temperature. If it is going to be exceptionally hot and humid, choose to exercise either early in the morning, or after sunset, when temperatures are lower and the sun isn’t beaming.
#5: Wear Proper Attire
Dress in light, airy clothing in fabrics that breathe. Protect your head with a cap or hat that shades your face. Avoid black clothing, which tends to absorb the sun and make you hotter.
#6: Stay Hydrated & Be Prepared
Extreme heat makes everyday issues like a flat tire or dead battery life-threatening. Visit a mechanic to confirm your vehicle is in good shape to lessen the chances of getting stranded. Carry extra water or sports drinks in your vehicle, and keep your cell phone charged. If your car breaks down, either stay in your car to wait for help, or stand in the grass instead of on the sizzling pavement.
When you stay hydrated is essential for good health all the time, and during the summer in particular. Implement these easy tips into your daily routine so you and your family maintain hydration and enjoy hot weather outdoor fun.
Chiropractic Treatment For Concussions
This article is copyrighted by Blogging Chiros LLC for its Doctor of Chiropractic members and may not be copied or duplicated in any manner including printed or electronic media, regardless of whether for a fee or gratis without the prior written permission of Blogging Chiros, LLC.
School is out, and the cool, fresh water of the local swimming pool awaits beckoning. Long, sunny days, the smell of sunscreen, and the laughter of the playing children will fill the next few months.
However, there are elements of this delightful picture that can end up causing harm to children and adults alike. It’s important to take a few key precautions when enjoying a day at the pool this summer. Doing so will minimize the risk of the summer laughter turning to tears.
Here are six bright ways for adults and children to stay safe at the pool this summer.
Pool Safety Tips:
#1: Enroll In Swimming Lessons
Playing in the water is a fun, refreshing activity, but can turn dangerous quickly. According to the Red Cross, the single biggest precaution to take to ensure summer safety is to make sure your children are able to swim. Book age appropriate swimming lessons for your children as young as possible.
#2: Avoid Spills With Water Shoes Or Rough Bottom Sandals
Nothing brings a playful pool day to a screeching halt like a slip and fall on the side of the pool. This goes for you, too, Mom and Dad!
Bare feet offer no traction on wet and slick concrete, and falling can cause serious accidents that require stitches, casts, and, well, chiropractic visits! Make it a rule to wear water shoes or sandals around the pool at all times.
#3: Take Measures To Fight Off Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s ear is a common condition that is brought on by water remaining in the ear canal, allowing germs to grow. Yuk!
The CDC reports that this condition results in an astonishing 2.4 million doctor visits every year. Guard against this by teaching your children to tilt each side of their heads toward the ground to drain their ears, and to dry their ears thoroughly with a towel every time they get out of the pool.
If you or one of your little swimmers experience ear pain after a pool day, take them to the doctor as soon as possible to begin treatment.
#4: Beware Of Little Critters
Hot days and bare skin are too much temptation for bees, mosquitoes, and ticks. Bites from these creatures range from itchy to extremely serious. Ward them off with bug spray, or sunscreen with insect repellent.
Ticks in particular are dangerous. If you or your child gets bitten by a tick, remove it promptly and clean the area thoroughly.
#5: Be Cautious Of Overdoing It
A day at the pool can be a blast for the young ones, but wagging the cooler and lawn chairs back and forth to the pool can exhaust an adult, causing injury. Remember to lift heavy items with your legs, and don’t overload yourself. An extra trip to the car is worth it to avoid a neck or back strain.
#6: Prepare For Disaster
Okay, that is a little melodramatic, but it pays to be prepared in the event of an emergency. Pack a small kit with alcohol, tweezers, bug bite cream, and bandages. Keep the kit in your car or pool bag. Better safe than sorry.
Pool days are a big part of the hot summer months, and are usually lazy and enjoyable. Keep them that way by taking these six tips to heart and talking to your children about the pool rules. With a little preparation up front, the chance of fun-dampening or dangerous instances happening to your family will be greatly minimized.
Prevention, Recognition & Management of Youth Sports Injuries
This article is copyrighted by Blogging Chiros LLC for its Doctor of Chiropractic members and may not be copied or duplicated in any manner including printed or electronic media, regardless of whether for a fee or gratis without the prior written permission of Blogging Chiros, LLC.
IFM's Find A Practitioner tool is the largest referral network in Functional Medicine, created to help patients locate Functional Medicine practitioners anywhere in the world. IFM Certified Practitioners are listed first in the search results, given their extensive education in Functional Medicine
Promote Healing
#4: Avoid Overexertion
#4: Beware Of Little Critters
