fitbody
for stressing hip joints, because when a player’s hip turns out even a few de- grees, especially from sudden changes in direction, falling or violent contact with another player, tendons and muscles be- come tighter on one side than the other. “Chiropractic adjustments anticipate and prevent this, so that the body doesn’t have to waste energy compensating for imbalances,” he explains. Traditionally, chiropractic care is
known for focusing on postural adjust- ments to minimize abnormal stresses and strains that affect the function of the ner- vous system and act on joints and spinal tissues. But active exercises and stretches, extension traction and ergonomic educa- tion are frequently added as preventive protocols to help athletes avert injury.
ALIGNING FOR FITNESS
Chiropractic Care Prevents Injury, Boosts Performance by Linda Sechrist
W
hat do distin- guished ath- letes like Jerry
October is
Rice, a Hall of Fame retired wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion, and Lance Armstrong, a former professional road racing cyclist and seven-time Tour de France winner, have in common? To withstand the rigors and intensity of each of their sports, these champions have both used the services of a chiropractic doctor skilled in chiroprac- tic sports sciences and rehabilitation. As more athletes discover that chi-
ropractic care goes beyond rehabilitation benefits to further enhance performance, they are coming to rely on it as a tool to support the healthy structure and func- tioning of their skeletal and muscular system. A 2002 study published in the
26 Hartford County Edition
National Chiropractic Health Month
on their staff. Doctor of Chiropractic Jeff Ludwick
assists players of the Harrisburg Stam- pede, a semi-professional Pennsylvania football team. “Improper spinal alignment creates muscular imbalances and nerve interferences,” advises Ludwick, owner of Camp Hill Family Chiropractic, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. “With properly aligned skeletal and nervous systems, an athlete’s body doesn’t have to work as hard,” which is why team members receive spinal adjustments before hitting the field for this high-impact sport. Ludwick notes that football is known
www.NAHRT.com
Journal of Manipula- tive and Physiological Therapeutics noted that 31 percent of National Football League teams include chiropractors
Cause and Effects The spinal cord operates like a switch- board for the body, transferring electri- cal impulses via a network of nerves. It works properly as long as there is no interference between the brain and tissue cells. But when nerve endings swell due to misaligned vertebrae, in- jury is more likely. Research reported in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine and The Physician and Sportsmedicine indicates that chiropractic sports sci- ence helps find and correct the under- lying causes, and thus helps prevent and heal injuries. During one research project, Chung Ha Suh, Ph.D., and his team at the University of Colorado demon- strated that even, “minuscule amounts of pressure on a nerve root (equal to a feather falling on the hand), resulted in up to a 50 percent decrease in electri- cal transmission down the course of the nerve supplied by that root.” The resulting biomechanical misalignment causes a domino effect: It exerts abnor- mal pressure on the nerve root, causes interference in the brain’s impulses to tissue cells, and alters the performance of any muscles and organs that the nerve serves. Chiropractic Physician Jay Swee-
ney, owner of San Antonio Family Alter- native Medicine, in Texas, uses func- tional neurology to “send a barrage of
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