Golf Injuries Ignored

After having performed thousands of sports physicals over the years, I have seen an ever increasing trend in poor posture. Often, the posture is altered before a sport is undertaken, and frequently the posture is affected by repetitive motions of a particular sport.

You can easily perform an analysis of your own posture by having someone look at you from your back (six feet directly behind you). Does one shoulder look higher than the other? Does one hip look higher? Check to see if your feet are equal, is one flaring out more than the other? The knees should be in alignment too, facing the same direction. Your head should be equally balanced, not tilting to one side. If some differences are observed, you may have a biomechanical problem that is affecting your sports performance.

I like to use the analogy of your car being out of alignment. If your automobile is misaligned, your tires will wear out unevenly, you will not get proper fuel efficiency and your car will not run like it should. The same principle applies to your body. Do you think that your body would be more or less prone to injury if you were a runner and you had one hip higher than the other, which caused one leg to be an inch shorter? Running day-after-day, mile-after-mile?

The body will respond to the misalignment by its innate ability to compensate for its changes and will adapt to the differences. However, there is an insidious process, disease sets in, and so the person may not have symptoms for many years before they experience other health problems. One of the most common conditions that occur is degenerate osteoarthritis of the spine and pelvis. The bottom line is, if your biomechanics were in ideal working order, you would be a better, more efficient runner.

One of the most common complaints I hear when a new patient visits the office is “I can golf fine if I take two anti-inflammatories or pain pills before I play golf, but after I’m done I have more pain”. Do you see the point that I am trying to make? If our bodies are giving us a symptom or it has restricted our range of motion in some way, it is trying to tell us that something is wrong. Like your car oil light coming on to warn you that the oil is low, do you switch of the light?

We often treat our automobiles better than our bodies. We can thank the drug companies and medical profession for constant bombardment in radio, print, and television ads. Billions of dollars are spent yearly to convince you to take that little wonder pill or potion for fast relief. They advise us to get rid of that symptom fast, ignore what the cause is. We need to take responsibility for our own health. Listen to your body; no one knows it better than you.

A pre-exercise warm up is imperative, but often disregarded. Most people want to “get right into their workout” and therefore begin their exercise regime before their muscles and ligaments have warmed up sufficiently. Without this precaution, one pre-exposes themselves to abnormal strain on their ligaments and muscular system.

It is even more urgent that we take a serious look at this with the proposed changes in our Healthcare System. The quality will not be as good. We should open our eyes, and look to the future. Say to yourself, what if 10, 20 or 30 years from now I have (fill in the blank). What could I have done to prevent that, should I have done this or that? The time for action is now!

Learn the secrets to a pain free golf game – play without pain. Visit http://www.healsportsinjury.southwestfloridachiropractor.com today!

Dr. Gendron has been fixing golf injuries for more than 20 years, for more advice on avoiding sports injuries, go to healsportsinjury.southwestfloridachiropractor.com now!

If You’re Interested in Avoiding Golf Injuries, Be Prepared!

Injuries are very common with any type of sport. You can often avoid getting injured in a particular sport, however, by finding out what injury is most likely to occur, and then taking precautions to avoid it. Naturally, there’s no guarantee that, even then, you won’t get injured. That’s why it is beneficial for you to be in good physical shape. It will make your getting injured less predictable or, at least, less traumatic. The most critical thing that you can do is to be sure that you have the proper fitness level prior to starting to play a sport, such as golf. You just might keep your body safe from injury if you follow these general guidelines: Perpetuate a healthy lifestyle; make sure your joints are mobile and your muscles are limber; prepare your body prior to activity; use proper form and good postures while actively playing; give yourself sufficient cool down and relaxation time.

Amateurs and pros alike can sustain golf injuries, but most amateurs are willing to stop playing and recuperate. However, nearly a third of pro golfers play injured at any given time. The good news is that a healthy lifestyle and physical fitness can actually decrease golf injuries or even prevent them totally.

Proper body strength in the muscle zones most used when golfing is very important. However, it’s essential to determine that your spine is in healthy alignment and that it has good mobility before you set out to build muscle strength. A proficient golf swing hinges on your spine’s facility to efficiently move in a rotational fashion. Back injuries are the most widespread kind of injuries experienced by golfers. Your chiropractor will establish that your spine is in proper alignment and that there is effectual movement of the vertebrae. Chiropractic care can make a big difference in helping you to avoid back injury.

A day on the golf course that remains injury-free depends on how prepared you are for the game, so once you’re “straightened,” you’ll need to strengthen and gain more flexibility. Warming up your muscles by doing golf-specific stretching and flexibility exercises, is a must in order to make muscle strain less likely. Full body flexibility can be gained fairly quickly through range of motion (ROM) exercises, and elastic band condition can provide targeted golf range of motion advantages and increase needed strengthening of shoulders, hips, and the deep muscles of the core. Your chiropractor and other sports professionals are adding elastic band training to their golf conditioning programs because they supply the dynamic resistance that ordinary weight lifting does not.

Besides back injuries, many golfers have painful “Golfer’s Elbow.” There is a minute difference between golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow though they are almost identical injuries. Whereas the outside of the upper arm is disturbed in tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow impinges the inner arm. Golfer’s elbow, like tennis elbow, can be a reaction to a single extreme action, such as (in golf) thrusting down on the mat at the driving range or striking a hard fairway surface. Repetitive stress from smaller shocks, though, is more commonly the protagonist. What’s more, it can occur for those who all of a sudden start playing too much golf. For example, if players that usually play golf once or twice a month choose to play in a tournament, they are likely at risk for incurring an injury.

Why so many golf injuries compared to other sports? Golf makes unique physical demands. Just for starters, he game is ordinarily longer than many other sports and can fatigue the body. Fatigue can result in poor posture and lack of coordination. These two factors combined can produce an assortment of injuries. Additionally, the shoulder muscles are susceptible to injury as a result of the repetitive swinging of the golf clubs. That is why to avoid injuries it is essential for you to stretch and warm up before you start your golf game and to rest your body between games.

An unexpected injury sometimes related to golf is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. But, as it a problem that occurs as the result of repetitive stress, a numerous amount of games of golf played over several months continuously may produce this injury. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be a severe injury creating incapacitation and sometimes needing surgery. However, chiropractic management and, sometimes the use of a brace will relieve the problem if a health professional, such as your chiropractor, discovers it at an early stage.

Injuries are assumed to be an inescapable part of life for many golfers. Nonetheless, an aligned and flexible spine, appropriate exercise and muscle conditioning, attaining and sustaining a a good fitness level, good preparation and prudent rest and recuperation after your game is over, can help to lower the risk of injuries during your golfing experience.

Dr. Yong Kim has a chiropractic practice in Sacramento California. He has 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 and interest in the area of athletic injuries. For more information go to his websitewww.sacramentochiropractor.org