Chiropractic evaluation useful tool for athletes

Chiropractic evaluation useful tool for athletes
December 5, 2006
By Scott Kilmer
The Citizen

Over the years in the younger population, I've noticed a switch from just ÏplayingÓ to a greater emphasis on Ïathletics.Ó
When I was a child, we played sports but also just played at Ïplay.Ó Now, young people today are bigger, stronger and faster than those children from a generation ago. As our society has become more competitive, so have our children and the sports they Ïplay.Ó
For whatever reason, young athletes today are more focused and driven than ever before. As a result, some of our youth are involved in competition or training 365 days a year. Thirty years ago there was Little League and Cub Scouts and not much more. Along with this increased emphasis on athletics and competition, there are certainly benefits, but there are also some lesser acknowledged detractors.
First, as for the benefits, I believe that the youth of today have more opportunities than ever before to be fit. There are more types of sports to participate in. It used to be the big three: football, baseball and basketball. Now there is a long list for children to choose from so that they can be active athletically. If a child may not have an interest or ability in one sport, there are plenty of others to pick from.
On the down side, of what might sometimes seem to be non-stop activity, a young athlete's body can wrack up quite a bit of banging around and trauma. What might be written off as Ïgrowing painsÓ may well be accumulated trauma to the joints and spine. Injuries that occur during practice time and game time can put these young bodies and their joints under a lot of mechanical stress.
These injuries over time may lead to other secondary mechanical problems. In the past 10 to 15 years, I, as well as many of my chiropractic colleagues, have seen a gradual but steady increase in the number of youth athletes in the office. I attribute this mostly to the fact that there are more youth athletes than ever before. A chiropractic evaluation may be a useful tool in the management of these types of injuries.

Dr. Scott Kilmer is a licensed

chiropractor in Auburn