Why do Rugby Players visit Chiropractors?
Because they are sensible men and women!
Well it’s a sad end to a fantastic Rugby World Cup. Now to patch everyone back up!
Did you know both our Chiropractors have experience treating amateur and professional rugby players? You can find out more about their experience here.
When it comes to physical impact no sport know it more than rugby. Knocks, bumps, falls and traumas all contribute to dysfunctional joints. Physical trauma can be as big as a car accident, rugby tackle to repetitive poor posture. Injuries don’t have to be big to result in pain and malfunction.
Here are the two categories injury can be placed in:
Acute – Sudden, usually known trauma eg A bad rugby tackle
Chronic – Recurrent / repetitive poor movement patterns, eg kicking a rugby ball badly (poor foot, ankle and/or hip positioning)
Your body needs to last a lifetime, so look after it!
All your bodies signals come from the brain, travel down the spinal cord and out via nerves, to specific muscles, skin areas and organs. We need to ensure these signals remain undisturbed at all times. Imagine the spinal cord and nerve roots are like hosepipes. Compression to a hosepipe will influence the flow, just like electrical signals from the brain.
Small compression may result in very mild (and in some cases sporadic) weakness, tingling, numbness.
Large compression may result in some or a selection of intense or unrelenting, tingling, numbness, weakness, increased or decreased sensitivity to the skin.
Complete compression – Paralysis to whatever that route supplies!
Each nerve root has a specific job, therefore there is no identical nerve to back it up. This highlights how important it is we take care of our nerves and spinal cord (nervous system).
With the above in mind it’s so important all patients are assessed correctly. When Chiropractors hear the mechanism of injury is a trauma, such as a significant rugby injury to the neck or back, they know immediately to assess the neurology carefully to establish the severity of the injury. This allow them to decide if the injury is appropriate for Chiropractic care, or referral to a neurologist is necessary.
With the above in mind it’s so important all patients are assessed correctly. When Chiropractors hear the mechanism of injury is a trauma, such as a significant rugby injury to the neck or back, they know immediately to assess the neurology carefully to establish the severity of the injury. This allow them to decide if the injury is appropriate for Chiropractic care, or requires surgical referral.
Chiropractors are like mechanics, they aim to remove disruptions (the cause of compression), to the nerve or cord, by encouraging optimal biomechanical function. This then helps the body to get to work and heal itself, rather than being stuck in a state of inflammation and spasm.
Did you know your body is designed to heal itself?
In fact every second of the day our bodies are repairing and rebuilding cells, most of which we are blissfully unaware of. It’s only when we have large injuries (severe pain or cosmetic damage), we tend to take note unlike internal damage we can’t see.
Remember any level of pain is your body telling you something isn’t right, in an attempt to stop you causing more damage. It’s much better to address pain and dysfunction early on rather than when its escalated to a larger or longer standing issue.
If you’d like to book in with our Cranbrook Chiropractor, east of Exeter book online or call 01392 984959
