If you play golf, you know that injuries can occur even though golf is a low-impact sport. Pain and injuries can interfere with both your daily activities and your enjoyment of the game. Fortunately, chiropractic care can help you treat and prevent golf injuries, improving your game.
As a chiropractor in the Chesapeake region for more than 20 years, I have helped many golfers prevent injuries and enhance their spinal alignment to improve their game. In this article I will discuss how chiropractic can help with golf.
Chiropractic and Common Golf-Related Injuries
Some of the most common golf-related injuries are related to the golf swing and repetitive motion injuries. Chiropractic can help prevent further injury and promote healing in a non-invasive way.
Golf Swing Injuries and Chiropractic Care
The most common golf-related injury is back pain due to the golf swing, because of the enormous amount of excess force on the spine. This compression load can be up to 8 times your body weight – all on your spine. The downswing puts the most stress on the spine, because the upper and lower body move in different directions while the body twists. Back pain from the golf swing can be especially bothersome in older golfers, who may already have underlying degenerative joint disease.
Chiropractic care can both prevent and treat golf swing injuries. As such, chiropractic does not merely mask the pain but rather corrects the underlying cause of the pain. Chiropractic care focuses on preventing your spine from becoming misaligned and treating any misalignment. Muscle tension and spinal imbalance from misalignment can put you at a higher risk of pain and injuries.
Your chiropractor can also give you tips on postural balance, stretches, and exercises. In conjunction with chiropractic care, these interventions can improve your core stability and prevent further injury.
Repetitive Motion Injuries and Chiropractic Care
Avid golfers can end up with repetitive motion injuries, often on one side of their body. This is because of the one-sided strain on the body while playing golf, which can lead to muscle overuse and imbalance. These injuries can lead to pain in the:
- Neck
- Shoulder
- Elbow
- Wrist
- Low back
- Hip
- Knee
Chiropractic care can both prevent and treat repetitive motion injuries from golf. A chiropractor can give you a muscular balance and movement assessment, recommending specific stretches and helping you increase your range of motion and improve your conditioning. In turn, this improved physicality helps to prevent injuries.
Do Golfers Use Chiropractic Care?
Many professional athletes, including professional golfers, use chiropractic care to keep them in top form. Further, the PGA Tour employs a chiropractic team to keep their golfers healthy and ready to play.
Chiropractic care can have multiple helpful effects on the body that can be of help to golfers. These include:
- Improved performance: Many athletes, including golfers, have noted their improved performance after seeking chiropractic care. Chiropractic care optimizes your spinal alignment. In turn, your joints, bones and muscles work together more naturally. This prevents overexertion and strain that can prematurely tire your muscles and harm your performance.
- Decreased recovery time from injury: Injuries from mechanical spine problems can often be treated with chiropractic care, especially when the injury is in the early stages. For this reason, golfers rely on their chiropractors to help along their recovery.
- Optimized range of motion: Misaligned muscles and joints can have a negative impact on your range of motion. Chiropractic care helps to realign your spine into its natural, optimal position, helping your range of motion.
- Reduction in pain: Studies show that chiropractic care relieves mechanical spine pain without drugs or surgery. Further, it fixes the underlying problem with your spine. This helps to prevent further injury and stops you from overexerting other muscles to compensate for your painful ones.
Chiropractic Care for Golfers at Precision Spinal Care
As a certified NUCCA chiropractor and spine management physician, I work closely with you to optimize your performance, whether you are a professional or an amateur golfer, and whether you are currently injured or looking to prevent injuries.
To accomplish this, during your first visit, I will do a thorough examination. Afterward, I will go over my evaluation with you in detail. Together, we will set reasonable expectations and milestones. We will also put together a treatment plan that meets your care needs. I will reevaluate you to make sure you are meeting your goals.
My experience and expertise in spinal biomechanics allow me to competently and safely address your back issues. I am a trauma and hospital-qualified spine management physician. I have credentials in MRI spine interpretation, spinal biomechanical engineering, and orthopedic testing through the Academy of Chiropractic. I am also a fellow in Spinal Biomechanics and Trauma which is recognized through the SUNY Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine.
If we determine that chiropractic is not the best solution for your needs, I will recommend the type of specialist who is most appropriate for you. I may also recommend other specialists that can be used in conjunction with chiropractic care to help you meet your needs.
We understand that you need to explore all your options when you are trying to treat your pain. At Precision Spinal Care, we are happy to help you determine the best way to address your specific needs and discuss all the options with you and your family.
Call our office at (757) 382-5555 to speak to the doctor or set up a consultation. You can also set up an appointment online here.
