Sports Injuries
My introduction to sports injuries began in November 1994 on the Springbok rugby tour of the UK & Ireland. One of my first patients was the captain Francois Pienaar and the physiotherapist Evan Speechly asked me to check Francois's knee.
I mention this as an introduction to Chiropractic & Sports Injuries as most people think Chiropractors only treat the spine. Some Chiropractors specialize in extremities and treat shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, knees, ankles & feet.
If you have seen other specialists and you are still battling with the same problem, then perhaps you need an extremity adjustment - or you may need your lower back and pelvis aligned which may be causing a hamstring, groin or calf compensation.
Structure dictates function - if you are out of balance and not in alignment you will compensate somewhere and pick up an injury. In a study on Kenyan long distance runners they found with a simple foot flare of a few degrees when running 10 000m race they would lose a good few metres - this equated to a 100m race the in difference between gold & fourth place - So besides possibly picking up an injury, it affects your performance.
This is a great example of how Sports Chiropractors prevent injury & enhance performance! If you biomechanics are in optimal condition you will have less injury - if you body is flexible and without restriction you will perform at your best.
When I was studying in Atlanta, Georgia from 1990-1994, heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield use to drive an hour out of Atlanta to get adjusted before a boxing match - Why? You do the research on why these legends in sport like Naas Botha, Jonty Rhodes, Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarznegger & many other use Chiropractic to enhance performance!
