Chiropractic In Sports Performance
What I love about sports is the internal drive all competitors have, from promising NFL draft picks to neighborhood runners, to be the best version of themselves they can be. It’s inspiring to have a front-row seat to their determination and growth, and I’m proud to play a role in expediting that process. A common misconception about chiropractic medicine is the narrow view that all we do is relieve back pain when in fact, our bread and butter are relieving any musculoskeletal pain, wherever it may be.
Health Fit takes a multi-faceted approach to patient care, which allows us to handle a wide variety of injuries and ailments.
Our doctors see chiropractic as a profession, not just a technique. It is widely believed that chiropractors only perform adjustments and spinal manipulations to help patients recover. Although there are chiropractors out there who believe this is their only tool, it could not be farther from the truth.
Health Fit’s Doctors of Chiropractic Dr. Christie, Dr. Masarsky, and myself (Dr. Gouveia) utilize a host of different tools including, but not limited to, the adjustment, Active Release Technique, Graston (instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization), corrective exercises, and rehab. Each tool or technique allows us to approach any injury that presents itself in our office and address the multiple different structures that could be affected. Each tool that we have to use plays a different role in treatment. Active Release Technique is a therapeutic technique that is designed to help treat soft tissue structures such as muscles, ligaments and tendons, especially when they have tightened up after an injury. We may also choose to use the chiropractic adjustment to help reintroduce the proper motion into a joint. When we adjust the spine or an extremity joint, we are not realigning the spine nor “putting bones back in place.” We are helping remove joint fixations and helping the body move in the way it was intended to. Finally, once the muscle and joint function have been treated and the body is moving the way it should, we provide rehab exercises to help reinforce the proper movement patterns. This helps solidify the changes we made with manual therapy and ultimately helps people get out of pain and remain pain-free.
The reality is, we have a broad skill-set and the knowledge to determine the best, most appropriate tool(s) to apply after a detailed physical evaluation. Each individual receives a personalized treatment plan catered to them to ensure the best results. This approach to patient care allows to help more than just those suffering from back pain.
Don’t take our word for it.
Walk through Health Fit’s doors on any given day to be met with a wide variety of patients receiving treatment. NFL players, weekend warriors, and the everyday desk jockey come to us looking for solutions to their unique issue. The experience in our office on highlights that chiropractic is not just for back pain anymore.
There is a reason that all 32 NFL teams have a chiropractor on staff to help treat their players. The scope we have in terms of injury treatment options allows us to be a valuable asset on any sports recovery & performance team. We work in conjunction with other medical professionals to provide players with the best possible care and improved recovery times.
New opportunities are arising as chiropractic becomes more accepted as mainstream in the world of athletics.
Our very own Dr. Christie has positioned Health Fit Chiropractic as a premier sports injury facility in addition to our ability to treat back pain. Trusted treatments have led us to be proud partners with XPE Sports in Boca Raton to work with NFL hopefuls as they train for the NFL combine.
Tony Villani, the owner of XPE sports, has been running an NFL combine conditioning camp for over ten years, helping to produce some of the NFL’s top talent. Every January, prominent college football players declaring for the draft will congregate in Boca Raton for a rigorous 8-week training camp with XPE sports. This camp has been designed to challenge the players and train them to perform at the annual NFL combine events.
Part of this program involves receiving regular medical care due to the rigorous and demanding schedule of the training program. Over the past 11 years, Dr. Christie has served as the medical director, and he and Tony have worked together to help players achieve their peak physical ability.
It was Dr. Christie’s vast scope of knowledge as a chiropractor that afforded him this opportunity. I joined the team last year and had the opportunity to help screen players upon arrival, assessing any potential biomechanical deficiencies that could lead to injury. We treated them and helped them resume training in a safe, timely fashion to get back to achieving their dream.