Archive for February, 2010
Sacramento Chiropractor: Golf Injuries Can Be Avoided
February 22nd, 2010 | 
Author: With any sort of sport, injuries are commonplace. You can frequently avoid getting injured in a specific sport by finding out what injury is apt to occur, and then do whatever it takes to avoid it. The truth is, however, that sports injuries can’t always be avoided. Consequently, it’s advantageous to take good care of your body to make injury less predictable, or less traumatic. Prior to beginning a sport, such as golf, the most important thing you can do is to be certain that you have a suitable fitness level. You just might keep your body safe from injury if you adhere to these general guidelines: Perpetuate a healthy lifestyle; make sure your joints are mobile and your muscles are limber; warm and stretch your body before to activity; use proper form and good postures during activity; give yourself sufficient cool down and relaxation time.
Golf injuries don’t simply happen to amateurs. Close to a third of pro golfers playing in the same time frame are playing injured. The good news is that overall good health and fitness can decrease the number of injuries that you may incur and may actually prevent them totally.
It is vital for you to have effectual body strength in the muscle areas most utilized during golf. However, it’s essential to make sure your spine is in healthy alignment and that it has good mobility prior to setting out to build muscle strength. A successful golf swing relies on your spine’s capacity to effectually rotate efficiently. Back injuries are the most widespread type of injuries suffered by golfers. To insure that your spine is in appropriate alignment and there is efficient movement in the vertebrae, see your chiropractor in Sacramento. Chiropractic treatment can go a long way in helping you to avoid back injury.
Once you’re “straightened” it’s time to strengthen. Being prepared for your golf game is crucial to safe, injury-free action on the green. Golf stretching and flexibility routines will warm up your muscles and make injury them less likely. Full body range of motion (ROM) exercises will augment flexibility, relatively speedily, in all parts of the body. Furthermore, elastic band conditioning can provide targeted golf range of motion benefits and can increase needed strength in the shoulders, hips and deep muscles of the core. Sports professionals, like your chiropractor, are including elastic band training in their golf conditioning programs because the bands provide dynamic resistance that ordinary weight lifting does not provide.
In addition to back injuries, a large number of golfers suffer from “Golfer’s Elbow.” Although golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow are nearly the same injuries, there is a minute difference between them. Tennis elbow affects the outside of the upper arm whereas golfer’s elbow impinges the inner arm. Golfer’s elbow, like tennis elbow, can be the consequence of a single extreme action, such as (in golf) striking the mat at the driving range or striking a hard fairway surface. Repetitive stress from smaller shocks, though, is more commonly the cause. In addition, it can occur for those who suddenly start playing too much golf. For example, if players that generally play golf once or twice a month elect to enter into a tournament, they are likely at risk for incurring the injury.
Golf makes unique requirements on the body. The game is usually longer than most other sports and that can result in fatigue. Once the body is fatigued, bad posture and decreased coordination often follow. This combination can cause an assortment of injuries. In addition, because of the continuous swinging of the golf clubs, the shoulder muscles are subject to injury. Just as great care should be taken to make certain that your muscles are stretched and warmed up prior to starting your golf game, be sure that you rest your body appropriately between games.
A surprising injury on occasion connected with golf is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. But, this injury can be induced by numerous games of golf played over several months repetitively as it is an affliction that occurs due to repetitive stress Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be a serious injury causing disability and occasionally necessitating surgery. However, if a health professional, such as your chiropractor, discovers it at an early stage, chiropractic treatment and, frequently, the use of a brace will help the condition.
Injuries are assumed to be inevitable part of life for a good majority golfers. But, a healthy, mobile spine, dedicated preparation, specific exercise and muscle conditioning, reaching and maintaining a a suitable fitness level, and prudent rest and recuperation after your game is over, can make injuries a good deal less a part of your golfing experience.
Dr. Yong Kim is a Sacramento chiropractor with over thirteen years of experience helping thousands of patients get out of pain and get their lives back. His office is located at 1707 Professional Drive, Sacramento, CA 95825. He has special training in the area of sports injuries. Dr Kim is himself an avid health enthusiast. For more information go to his website at http://www.sacramentochiropractor.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yong_J_Kim
Posted in sports injuries | 
Tags: back pain, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, chiropractic, chiropractor, Golfer's Elbow, shoulder pain | 
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Chronic Health Conditions On the Rise in U.S. Children
As a chiropractor I treat many children who have suffered an injury due to an accident or as the result of a sport or other play activity. However, what might surprise you is that I also have begun seeing children in my clinic who have weight-related musculoskeletal problems (conditions that in the past usually didn’t occur until adulthood), and more children who suffer from asthma and/or ADHD. Though chiropractic treatment can be very effective in reducing some of these problems, I find the fact that I am seeing more and more cases very disturbing. And, I’m not the only one noticing an increase in children’s health problems. A recent study by U.S. researchers has found that chronic health conditions, such as obesity and asthma, are indeed rising among children. Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave of Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston, who worked on the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, used data from a government survey of three groups of children — each group with about 1,000 or more children — aged 2 through 8 between 1988 and 2006.
Van Cleave and her group found that the rate of chronic health conditions, such as obesity, asthma and learning problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, had doubled to 26.6 percent in 2006 from 12.8 percent in 1994. The study also found that for about half of these kids, their conditions will go away over time. “The trick,” Van Cleave said , “is finding out why conditions go away so that more children may be helped.”
However, Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, who was not involved with the study, said that while it was heartening that chronic conditions went away in several children, it was worrying that such a large percentage of children had a chronic health problem at some point. These problems “will need prevention strategies geared toward larger environments such as families, schools, communities,” and laws that make nutritious foods more accessible and affordable.”
I am in agreement with Dr. Raghuveer. Children (and parents) need education regarding the importance of good nutrition and regular exercise, and children also need environments that encourage both. Even though some of the health issues went away over time in half of the children in the study, the fact remains that the number of children experiencing such health problems is on the rise. Therefore, the number of children in “the other half,” the children who continued to experience chronic health conditions, is growing ever larger each year.
Proper Pre-Season Training Should Be a No-Brainer
As a chiropractor, I treat plenty of teenagers (as well as adults) who’ve sustained sports injuries. When it comes to the “weekend warrior” syndrome, it seems that teenagers don’t realize, anymore than their parents and other adults who indulge in sport activities do, just how important getting in shape prior to getting fully involved can be. So I was happy to read the following article and recommendations for high school pitchers and I want to pass it along to you.
High School Pitchers Need To Train Properly Before Season To Avoid Serious Injuries
High school pitchers who go full-speed the first day or week of spring training may be headed down the road to serious injury. “A large number of high school athletes take the winter off and just go out and start throwing as hard as they can,” said Matt Holland, a physical therapist with The Methodist Center for Sports Medicine in Houston. “The problem is that their arms are not in baseball shape and they open themselves up to serious shoulder and elbow injuries.” The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that act to stabilize the shoulder especially during the throwing motion. An inflamed rotator cuff (tendonitis) can cause pain when lifting your arm and will most likely dramatically affect a player’s performance on the field. Problems with the rotator cuff can not only damage the rest of the shoulder, but may also lead to elbow and other arm problems that shorten the careers of many pitchers. To read more, go to medicalnewstoday.