Getting excited about the warm weather?  Already dusting off the clubs?  Have you gone to the YMCA and practiced your golf swing in the racquetball courts?  Hello, my name is Dr. Reilly and I am a chippewa falls chiropractor I have a master’s degree in sports science and love to golf.  Since my passions align with golf and health I have decided to make this one of your best golf seasons yet.  In this article I will give you the BIG THREE tips to make sure you maintain your health throughout the season.  Along with that just for sharing and liking this article through google plus or facebook I will provide you with an offer that will dramatically change your golf game.  So the question the question you should be asking is what are the BIG THREE?

The first tip is STRETCH.  One of the largest downfalls to most golfers is their inability or lack thereof to stretch prior to their golf game.  If you watch any professional they stretch before there sporting event.  Besides all of the research showing the benefits of stretching just look at what the “professionals” are doing.  You don’t see Fred Couples start a game without taking a practice swing.

The second tip is the triple BeeBee “BBB” also known as “Be Better Bilaterally”.  The downfall to the game of golf is that it is a unilateral sport, meaning that it only uses half of the body’s muscles.  Simply put if you do anything one sided eventually you will begin to favor that side.  It is the old concept of “you don’t use it you lose it”.  I know most of you are thinking well that wouldn’t be so bad who needs to golf the opposite way.  Well do not forget about that time you are in the rough behind the oak that an opposite hand swing would help, what about your spine.  Your spinal column consists of 24 movable bones and is by far and away the most important body part to a golf swing.  If you only use half of your body that side will begin to wear and tear.  It is as if you only did left hand turns in your car the left side tires will wear much faster than the right.  My recommendation is take a practice swing on every other hole the opposite way.  Yes you will look and feel stupid but it will give your body a break, help prolong your game, and work to prevent injury.

The last tip is H20 aka Water.  Golf is one of the few games that drinking is almost encouraged.  I in no way would ever recommend stopping this ritual, however this activity does dehydrate your body and therefore your muscles can not work as effectively.  I simply recommend drinking more!!  Yes the doctor said to drink more, I would actually like you to drink at least 4 oz. of H2O on every hole (about the size of a white cone supplied with the water coolers).  This not only will help your muscles work more effectively but will allow you to participate in the ritual of drinking alcohol (which many golfers already partake) longer without becoming intoxicated.  Please drink responsibly and do not drink and drive (yes that includes the carts).

For the pros that are looking to seriously change their game read on.  As a health conscious individual I will offer you a $50 functional muscular exam to anyone that shares and likes this article either through facebook or google plus.  This includes a gait analysis, functional muscular exam during golf swing, and nervous system scan.  You will walk out of the office with ways to improve your golf swing and stretches specific to your dysfunction to help improve your game and prevent injuries.  This is a $175 value for $50 please call for appointment and bring proof of your online actions with you along with your golf bag.  We take care of any musculoskeletal or neurological injury and have x-ray diagnosis on site.  Good luck with your season and keep your health in mind as you play, besides the weather your health is the only other thing that can bring your game to a halt immediately.

The post How to improve your golf game, stay healthy while playing golf, and fix correct and prevent golf injuries? appeared first on Eau Claire chiropractor and Chippewa Falls chiropractors at Reilly Chiropractic | (715) 723-2892.

Aaron Rodgers, Tiger Woods, Johnny Damon what do these professional athletes all have in common beside being great at their sport?  They all use chiropractic treatment on a regular basis.  Why would all the best athletes in the world have chiropractors?  The simple answer is chiropractors and chiropractic ensures a safer and more efficient performance from the body during sport.  My ultimate goal as a sports performance doctor is to educate the athlete on proper performance training, strengthening, and stretching so that the athlete does not need my services.  The hard truth is that regardless of how well you are training, strengthening, and stretching you are still putting stress on the body and eventually you will need assistance in reducing that stress.  In our office we have a three phase process that we teach all of our patients to help them properly manage the physical stress that they are exposed to daily.

PHASE ONE – Stretching both dynamic and static doesn’t require any tools just knowledge space and your machine aka your body

PHASE TWO – Equipment a must have for every athlete is a Foam Roller this assists in restoring proper mobility and flexibility through increased pressure and pumping of the blood my favorite is the Grid Roller from tptherapy.com they sell for $50 online with shipping but we have them in the office for $36 in both black and orange.

PHASE THREE – Professional assistance this is required only after you have exhausted the first two phases.  Just like when you or your husband tried to fix the car and ended up with too many pieces left over and a non functioning vehicle sometimes a professionals expertise is required.  Professionals range in expertise and not all health professionals are created equally.

Professionals that every athlete should have:

• Chiropractor (better if they have an emphasis on sports medicine see below about a Sports Chiropractor)
• Medical Doctor (better if they have an emphasis on sports medicine see below)
• Massage Therapist (better if they have an emphasis on myofascial release and sports massage see below)
• Nutritionist/Dietitian/Nutrition Chiropractor (nutrition is very important but make sure that the nutritionist or dietitian has some training in sports nutrition, if the sports chiropractor doesn’t have nutrition training you may need two separate chiropractors)
• Physical Therapist (better if they have an emphasis on sports medicine see below)
• Dentist (depends on your sport but some sports require a good emergency dentist)

The big differences comes in training Massage is a great tool and should be utilized by every athlete however Massage Therapists range from general swedish massage training to sports massage and myofascial release.  When you call or are searching for Massage therapists make sure to ask if they are trained in sports massage and myofascial release, if not its probably better to keep looking.

The same thing goes when you are looking for a medical doctor.  Although your primary care medical doctor receives training in diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal issues the core of their training is focused on pharmaceuticals and the organ systems.  This doesn’t mean that your Medical Doctor can’t help you but it does mean that their may be someone that is more qualified to help.  My favorite thing to ask any health professional is what sports do they do themselves?  Do you workout and if so how do you like to do it?  If the health professional works out more then likely they are passionate about their physical well being and then it is highly likely that they will use their education, expertise, and spare time to further their education on sports and wellness.

Questions for a health professional: 

1. What sports do they do themselves?
   
2. Do you workout and if so how do you like to do it?
3. What additional training have you had with athletes and sports medicine?
4. Do you currently work with any sports teams?
5. Have you worked with athletes that perform my sport? ; What injuries did they have and how did you help treat them or prevent them?

What most people don’t know is what a sports chiropractor can actually do and why they would need one.  Chiropractors in general get their primary training in the musculoskeletal system that means that we have training in the body and not just diagnosing the body but in palpation and management of the body.  A chiropractor spends every day of their working life palpating joints and mastering how joints should move and feel when functioning at 100%.  This means that any chiropractor will be able to diagnose and manage a sprained ankle, torn rotator cuff, or a meniscal tear.  The benefit of seeking a chiropractor out to initially diagnose and manage your symptoms is that no referral is require you can often receive treatment the very same day and if Surgery or bracing is required the majority of the time “conservative management” aka (phases one and two, chiropractic, and physical therapy) is required to help with cost containment and to help reduce unnecessary procedures.  Now if you fall and break your hip and need an ambulance to take you away they are not going to bring you to the chiropractor to have them diagnose it and try conservative treatment prior to surgery although the chiropractor is technically the most appropriate to diagnose this they are not the most appropriate to treat and therefore you will be taken to the hospital.  Although any chiropractor has had the training to diagnose and manage any musculoskeletal complaint as we previously stated they may not have focused on it since school and may only be passionate about the spine.  This is where not all chiropractors are created equally, when searching for a sports chiropractor to either help improve your performance or get you back to a state that you can actually perform your sport you should be asking about their training.  I have a Masters Degree in Sports Science and Rehabilitation aka Sports Medicine this means that I have taken an additional Two Years worth of training in sports.  You will not find another chiropractor in the entire Chippewa Valley that has a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine, that doesn’t mean that Reilly Chiropractic is your only option.  Another option is searching for a chiropractor that has a CCSP or is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician, this is additional continuing education and certification that a chiropractor that is passionate about sports can receive to help him further his education in the sports world it requires an additional 100 hours of training basically an additional year of education.

At Reilly Chiropractic in Chippewa Falls, WI we are the Sports Chiropractor for the Chippewa Valley Roller Girls and the semi-pro football team the Eau Claire Crush.  Dr.Reilly has worked with numerous athletes and reviews are posted in the review section.  Dr.Reilly has a Masters Degree in Sports Medicine and is ready to help not only manage injuries that have already happened but also help educate and assist in prevention of future injuries that you are susceptible to due to both the sport you play and your biomechanics.

In closing as you become a better athlete and more seasoned you will want to develop your athletic portfolio.  Investing your time in a sport is not all that different than investing your money for retirement it takes knowledge, goals, and a support structure and most individuals go through a growing process.  As athletes become more passionate about their sport invest in higher quality equipment and start to focus on training for their sport specifically.  That is typically where most casual athletes stop which is why they do not typically grow to become the best that they can possibly be.  Professional athletes go through the same growth in their athletic portfolio however they also have the knowledge to build a support structure of coaches, trainers, and health professionals around them to ensure a better opportunity for success.  If you are serious about your sport and want to ensure that you can perform at your highest level while preventing and managing injuries then take the steps to make the connections and build a network of sports focused health professionals around you and grow your athletic ability and performance. The first step is already out of the way you have read this article and gained the knowledge, now make some calls and talk to your athletic friends then make initial appointments with the health professionals and build your team so that they are ready when you need them.

The post Sports Chiropractor Treatment Chippewa Falls: looking for improved sports performance in the Chippewa Valley appeared first on Eau Claire chiropractor and Chippewa Falls chiropractors at Reilly Chiropractic | (715) 723-2892.

Back Pain and Gravity

Back Pain and the stress of Gravity

Did you know that one of the Greatest Stressors in a human beings life or any life on earth is Gravity?  When individuals hear the term “stress” they think bad thoughts and mental thoughts of divorce, heartbreak, work, death, and other negative things.  Not all stress is bad in fact most stress has a bell curve to it where it can be very negative and sometimes very positive.  If you reflect on a stressful moment in your life you will likely remember the negative moment but then if you think long and hard about the time after that you will likely start to remember growth following that stress.  An easy example is when you cut a limb off of a tree or prune it you stress the tree and the tree will not only grow a scar around the area that was cut but will also grow more leaves and likely in height the following year, hence the reason for pruning.

So if we remember back to the, “Gravity is one of the two Greatest Stressors to a human being” statement then we have to discuss gravity and look into the positive and negative sides of the bell curve that is associated with all stressors.  If you read the article below that discusses the impact of gravity on one’s life you will quickly see that gravity is essential for life it helps to ensure that are muscles are strong and that are bones are strong as well.  In fact most of the time gravity is looked at as being more positive than negative, unless you really want to fly . The negative side of gravity has some easy correlations such as when we fall and skin our knee if gravity didn’t exist we couldn’t fall but since it does we get hurt and bleed when we fall. Are you on the edge of your seat yet with this invigorating recall of high school physics?  If not hang on just a bit longer to see how this relates to back pain and chiropractic care.

Most people when they hear the term gravity think of weight and pull and those are good thoughts, however what most people forget about is pressure.  Yes pressure and our body is very dependent on pressure most specifically our joints.  In fact the noise heard during a chiropractic adjustment is actually a change in pressure and a change of the nitrogen within a joint changes from a liquid to a gas and creates a popping noise similar to when you release pressure from a soda can or bottle and it makes a noise.  Pressure in the body is created by two different factors one is the compression caused by the muscles and ligaments that can be distorted if the muscles are dysfunctional with trigger points and irregular tension or if the ligaments have been torn or damaged and rendered unable to perform their duty of supply stability and control.  The second factor is the force of gravity.  This is how we can correlate gravity to back pain in the same way that irregular muscle or ligament actions cause variations in pressure changes in gravity can cause variations in pressure and just like your Grandpa’s trick knee a change in pressure can cause a big problem in a joint.

gravity stress and back pain affects degenerative posture

So now you should be able to see how the most constant stressor in life, gravity, plays a big role in joint pain and back pain.  If you take gravity and extrapolate it out to poor posture due to technology like computers and cell phones then it is even easier to see how and why 9 out 10 people have back pain, neck pain, and joint pain during their life. I personally think that the figure is probably more like 10 out of 10 people that aren’t seeing a chiropractor at least bimonthly have back pain.  It is impossible to escape the effects of gravity and you wouldn’t want to if you like having muscles that can move you, bones that don’t break, and a body that makes the amount of blood that it should, so the only and best thing to do in order to avoid back pain from gravity and pressure changes or joint pain from gravity and pressure changes is seek out an awesome comprehensive chiropractor.  That chiropractor should help you correct joint dysfunction, monitor your muscle function, and give you a plan to help fight the battle against poor posture, gravity, and irregular mobility and movement. Back pain and joint pain are not difficult to prevent and they are even easier to treat if you have the knowledge and a plan to work against the stressors that are constantly applied to the body.

GRAVITY, PRESSURE, JOINT PAIN, BACK PAIN, MOBILITY, MOVEMENT, CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT, STRESS all these terms go hand in hand and you definitely want to make sure that you know how they are related and how to properly manage them.  See our article about how to choose a high quality chiropractor and why everyone needs a chiropractor for more information.

Don’t forget that the body moves in 8 dimensions lateral bending side to side, twisting left and right, bending forward and back, and the y axis of compressing down or distracting up.  The 6 dimensions can be practiced and maintained through stretching and an active lifestyle however you will still need chiropractic adjustments since there is no way to effectively assess yourself to know that you are maintaining full mobility and not developing dysfunction without the expert analysis of a chiropractor.  The last two dimensions can only be practiced and maintained through certain activities such as swimming (due to the weightless environment), inversion or traction, and bouncing through walking, jumping, bouncing on a ball, and my favorite jumping on a trampoline don’t fall off or you will be seeing me quicker then you think.  Happy health.

The following are the 6 motions that can be achieved without assistance through proper stretching:

neck extension, neck flexion, neck rotation, neck lateral flexion

The following are the 2 motions that cannot be achieved without assistance:

cervical compression

cervical distraction

Video of different Gravity on the Earth

Related Articles:

Earth Gravity and Back Pain.

New Gravity Map Reveals Lumpy Earth

The impact of gravity on life – Division of Space Life Sciences

Inversion Therapy | Gravity and Back Pain | Teeter

Weather Changes, Atmospheric Pressure and Joint Pain

Weather pains - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weather and Joint Pain: What’s the Link?

What causes the noise when you crack a joint? – Library of Congress

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