You need a body that functions in highly-specialized ways on demand if you’re an athlete. This is true whether you’re a weekend warrior or have a professional athletic career. Fortunately, our chiropractic team focuses on helping maximize your performance for your events and the rest of your life. The following are seven benefits of seeing a dedicated sports chiropractor. We hope they help you make healthcare decisions that are right for you.

Data-Driven Approach

Whether you’re trying to improve your golf game or your time around the track, you need data to improve your performance. At our practice, we see your health in much the same way. We enjoy getting rave reviews and positive comments as much as anyone else, but we also need to back up your health gains with data.

When you come to our practice, you can expect a range of examinations, tests, and scans. We do a thorough head-to-toe examination, take a detailed health history, and perform various tests, including a Functional Range Assessment or FRA. FRA involves testing how much each joint in your body can move. Since we perform FRA at various stages of treatment, you can see objective, scientific data that matches any improvement you feel. Occasionally, we scan an area if we have additional concerns or for more data.

Individualized Interventions

Once we’ve established how you’re moving and any problem areas you have, we begin developing an individualized treatment program. We never use a cookie-cutter approach, such as treatment “X” for issue “Y.” Instead, we work with you to help you select interventions that work with your personal goals and lifestyle preferences.

We present you with a list of issues that we believe are having the most influence on your performance and overall health. Although we have a working list, we really listen to you to learn your priorities. After all, the focus is on your performance and your health.

A good example of this is scar tissue. Although our chiropractic team has members certified in Instrument-assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization, Graston Technique, and many other heavily researched therapies designed to work with scar tissue, we don’t insist that every patient undergo these treatments. Even though most people have some scar tissue, sometimes the scar tissue might not be the main area they want to work on, or it might have a relatively minor impact on performance compared to other issues.

Targeted Activity Program

Since you’re an athlete, you already know that you get better at moving by moving more. We would add that you get better at moving by strengthening any weak areas through targeted activity. A targeted activity program is created using the results from your assessments. We also take into account other goals of yours, such as aerobic conditioning, stress management, and flexibility training.

Research-supported Lifestyle Interventions

When you visit our team, expect only research-supported lifestyle interventions. Every option we present to you has been carefully vetted by our team and the professional scientific community in general. We don’t take chances with ourselves, and we’re certainly not willing to take any chances with your health.

In general, we believe in a diet rich in phytochemicals. These are nutrients found in fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition to adding a beautiful burst of color to your plate, they fill your body with substances that can quell inflammation and boost health. Although we believe that fresh produce, lean proteins, and refreshing water should form the bulk of a body-enhancing diet, the prescribed ratio of these will vary wildly from person to person. This is why we develop individualized recommendations for each person.

Injury Management

One of the sad facts about sports participation is that, eventually, most of us will succumb to an injury. Whether it’s a torn rotator cuff or a sprained ankle, a sports injury can sideline you for weeks to months. It also means pain and sorting through a variety of options, including potentially addictive medications and potentially life-threatening surgeries.

While surgery is sometimes necessary to correct an issue, and medications might help reduce excruciating pain to a tolerable level, they are not the end of injury management. Our perspective is that your injury has an effect on every part of your body and your performance. Therefore, you must take a multifaceted approach that looks at your whole lifestyle.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, an injury can result in issues that persist beyond the typical course of rehabilitation. Fortunately, we also specialize in providing chiropractic care for persons who are living with spinal cord injuries, including some elite wheelchair athletes. Even if you’re not interested in professional sports, we’ve partnered with NeuAbility to provide rehabilitative services to our community.

Injury Prevention

The interventions we have for injury management are pretty extensive and impressive. Of course, the best injury is the one that doesn’t happen in the first place. This is why we devote quite a bit of effort to preventing injuries through attention to ergonomics and functional mechanics.

Functional Range Conditioning, or FRC, is one of the treatment approaches we find helpful for promoting healthy movement. This system focuses on mobility development, joint strength, and body control. Mobility development refers to the extent that you can safely and efficiently move. Joint strength focuses on reinforcing your joints so they can freely function without pain or injury. Body control is the third component of FRC and involves maximizing neurological health with an emphasis on improving athletic performance.

Healthy Start

Sports are more than fun on the weekends or a full-time job for some adults. They’re a fantastic way for children to become physically active and spend some time doing something to counteract the dreaded “text neck” we’re seeing much too frequently in our practice. Physical activity is also great for fighting against the childhood obesity crisis that’s causing unprecedented rates of Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and other health concerns formerly seen in midlife or later.

If you’ve been involved with sports, you know that they’re about much more than preventing a slew of complications. While sports are valuable for teaching children how to work with others and the value of making long-term goals, the benefits we’re most interested in are the long-term developmental ones. When your child participates in athletic activities, their body gets optimal tissue oxygenation and nutrient delivery for brain and spinal cord growth. When you combine this opportunity with comprehensive sports chiropractic care from our team, you can carefully monitor the progress as your child optimizes their neurological growth and health.

Join Our Sports Chiropractic Team

If any or all of these benefits sound like something you’d like to add to your lineup, we encourage you to consider our practice. Our team of sports chiropractors is skilled in diagnosing, treating, and preventing a wide range of sports-related issues. Please contact us online or give us a call at (720) 893-0312 to find out more or schedule an appointment.