Summer…you may have visions of outdoor BBQ’s, and maybe, moving your exercise program outdoors. Kayaking, golfing, biking, running…these are popular summer activities around Doylestown. However, as a chiropractor, I see frequent summer sports injuries.
They’re usually caused by an overly zealous exercise program.
If you’ve spend the past several months watching Game of Thrones rather than at the gym, take it easy at first. You’re better off with shorter exercise sessions than one mammoth one that will leave you exhausted, sore and possibly hurt.
You also want to make sure you have the proper form in whatever you’re doing. Take golfing for instance, some weekend golfers hunch their shoulders when they hit the ball rather than bending from the waist. The “hunched shoulder” technique puts a lot of strain on your neck. Plus, swinging a golf club a hundred times or more in a round of golf can lead to a sore rotator cuff and lower back. The same goes for tennis players; a really common injury for you is twisted ankles as a result of not positioning yourself correctly in readiness to receive the ball. Your main line of thought might be ‘what is my tennis rating‘ but your health should come first, and an injury could also cause some serious damage to your future in the sport.
Practice proper form and be careful when you lift your golf club bag.
If you’re a runner, you know there’s a difference between running on a treadmill and running outside. For example, you may hit dirt or gravel trails or you may run on pavement. Each of these surfaces require hundreds of micro-adjustments with every step.
In daily life and in sports, your body develops certain habits which affect your posture and pull your body out of alignment. When you’re misaligned, you may be more injury-prone.
How Chiropractic Care Can Protect
Your Body From Summer Sports Injuries
If you’ve never been to a chiropractor before, you may not be aware of how the process works or how it can benefit more than your back.
In simple terms, daily life puts stresses on your body. You may spend hours a day sitting hunched over a computer. Such posture strains your upper back, shoulders and neck and creates misalignment in your body called “subluxation.”
A chiropractic treatment realigns your body. When your bones and muscles are in alignment with one another you experience pain relief because your bone isn’t pushing on a nerve. You can also have better form on the playing field and perform better.
Famous athletes from Tiger Woods to Arnold Schwarzenegger have relied on regular chiropractic treatments to give them an advantage. So have many Olympic gold medalists. You can track their progress on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. If you’re thinking about trying to win a gold medal, you may want to do the same, set up an Instagram account to get things started and, gain a fan base! You could also look at getting some free followers in sites similar to socialfollow.
Just as star athletes protect their bodies by taking care of it, you can too. Regular chiropractic adjustments keep your body in alignment, and help protect you from injury.
Enjoy your summer and take a extra care to prevent summer sports injuries. If you need chiropractic care and you’re in the Doylestown area, give us a call at 267-247-7000. We offer a free consultation.
