Sports and Chiropractic Care
There is probably no activity more closely associated with
the need for chiropractic care than sports. For many years, hundreds
of professional athletes have been utilizing the regular services
of a chiropractor. In more recent years, professional athletic teams
have actually employed team chiropractors to regularly, even daily,
check the spines of their players for vertebral subluxations. Many
athletes publicly praise the benefits they have received from chiropractic.
Sports and Subluxations
Physical stresses upon the body are the most easily understood cause
of a vertebral sub-luxation. Watching a football game or a hockey
game, one has to wonder whether those athletes have any vertebrae
in their spine that are not subluxated! The human spine is the shock
absorber of the body and can withstand a tremendous amount of stress.
On top of that, athletes are usually superbly conditioned enabling
their bodies to withstand forces that would put the average person
in a hospital. Even with that going for them, they still can and do
get subluxated.
If that is the case for professional athletes, what about the
weekend warrior, the guy who plays softball two nights a week, or
basketball once every week? Certainly, the person who only gets out
on the tennis court on Saturday afternoons in the summer is going
to stress his or her body and likely need an adjustment by a chiropractor.
In addition to not being in shape, many sports, especially the non-contact
ones like bowling and golf, put a tre-mendous stress on certain parts
of the body because of their one-sided, repetitive activity. In addition
to the physical stresses, what about the emotional stress of batting
in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded or having
to sink a 30 foot putt to win a golf tournament? How about the stress
we put on our
children to excel in sports?
Chiropractic and Improved Performance
The potential for injury which would prevent an athlete’s participation
in sports is most commonly seen as the reason for chiropractic care.
The possibility of sports caused subluxations that could interfere
with the nerve system and rob the body of its life-energy, perhaps
contributing to physical problems later in life, is a real concern
and sufficient reason for getting regular chiropractic spinal checks,
whether you are regularly, or just casually involved with sports.
But there is another consideration with regard to chiropractic. If
subluxation interferes with the nerve system, then it must reduce
the ability of the body to work at its fullest potential. If the body
is not working at its fullest potential, then an athlete’s performance
has to suffer. This is the reason that many athletes receive regular
adjust-ments. They want every edge they possibly can have in performing
at their highest level. The great Soviet chess master, Gary Kasparov,
exercised regularly. He knew that his physical well being was important
to his mental sharpness and concentration. In a similar way, a good
nerve supply is necessary to maximum eye-hand coordination, maximum
concentration, and optimal alertness as well as strength and endurance.
Whether you are a 10-year-old playing little league baseball or a
50 year old playing pickup basketball on Tuesday nights, you want
to do your best. That cannot happen with vertebral
subluxations. Regular adjustments will enable you to do your best
in any and every sport.
© Strauss Chiropractic Center
2003
