Can Chiropractic Help Your Golf Swing?
Now that golf season is upon us (and the courses are open, thanks 'Rona), how can you keep your body in the best shape to make sure you make every tee time?
Easy, chiropractic!
Whether you want to be preemptive with your treatment, injured your low back doing yard work, or have a nagging shoulder injury from years ago impacting your game, I can get you on the course in the best shape.
First off, get in for an appointment so we can run a full evaluation. This will include everything from a full health history, symptom history, range of motion, orthopaedic tests and watching you move.
Once the exam is done, we will talk about what I found and what the outlook is. This is a conversation, I need to know your goals and what kind of treatments you are open to so we can make a game plan together!
The most typical complaint we see with golfers is low back pain. Here are some things that can happen if you let the low back break down:
Muscle strain/ligament sprain: These can resolve themselves in about a month pretty much by themselves. However, even of the tissue is healed you can be left with stiffness, restriction and general changes in your movement. These things need to be addressed so as not to become a chronic condition.
Disc Injury: The disc is a squishy space that sits in-between each vertebrae of the spine. It helps with absorption and creates space for movement and important things like nerves to exit the spine. The disc can be likened to a jelly doughnut, with a pasty outside and jully inside. If there is excessive or abnormal movements, that pastry can tear and the jelly can start to leak out. This is the most severe case, sometimes the tear just leads to a bulge in the pastry (or the outside of the disc). While discs have been known to reduce on their own in minor cases, chiropractic care can assist this process and aid in symptom management when nerves are impacted, which can result in numbness, tingling and weakness of the leg.
Altered Mechanics: So you injured your back, the brain is going to decide to change how you move and the muscles that fire, when. Sometimes this can be protective in nature, but if it keeps up, chronic pain can become a very real problem.
Arthritis: Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Disc Disease, Dengerative Joint Disease. All similar. Basically the joints in your back from over-use, abuse, lack of use, ageing and so on degenerate and become arthritic. Bone spurs build up, impacting movement and nerves. Sometimes even fusing joints all together. Overall inflammation happens as well.
Fracture: With a rotational sport like golf, stress fracture and spondyloysis is something we commonly see. The rapid movements of the spine cause bones to collide and can lead to fractures.
Treatment for any golf related concerns, including the low back include conservative care. This can look like a combination of chiropractic, muscle release, cupping, instrument assisted soft tissue work, Interferential Current Therapy, taping and rehab exercises.
For athletes looking for preventive care, and optimal performance, we focus on things such as:
· Proper Technique
· Flexibility/Mobility
· Core Stability
· Optimal Functional Movement
· Properly fitted equipment
· Warm-up before practice and play
· Full Recovery from the previous injury
· Proper Posture
So whether you felt that tweak in your low back, or want to prevent that from happening, chiropractic care can be a great tool to use throughout your golf season!
If you are looking for more resources on your golf game, check out https://www.mytpi.com/improve-my-game
