No chiropractic doctor wants to throw cold water on a patient’s enthusiasm for exercise. Done correctly and within the patient’s physical limitations, exercise improves health and fitness and brings on a sense of well-being that can’t be obtained in any other way.
CHIROPRACTORS CONCERNED
Part of a conscientious doctor’s job, though, is to point out possible health pitfalls in a patient’s life … and chiropractors do worry about those patients who endanger themselves through high-intensity exercises or sports activities beyond their current capabilities.
“Some go too far, too fast,” is the way one chiropractic doctor described his concern, “and they create unnecessary and sometimes serious overuse injuries. If they’d just give themselves more time …. ”
In the past, overuse injuries were almost exclusively work-related. But no more work still generates a lot of such injuries, but an astonishing number happen to women who exercise – usually highly-motivated women determined to exercise themselves into fashion model slimness and flexibility – and they want to get it done “overnight.” This attitude is bringing on a rampant increase of overuse injuries.
REPETITION, IRRITATION CAUSE OVERUSE INJURIES
Any ongoing, repetitive stress or irritation of bodily tissue can produce an overuse injury which is usually characterized by pain and inflammation. Aerobic exercisers, cheerleaders, gymnasts, and the like are major targets of overuse injuries. Other amateur sports persons, both men and women, also go down with their share of bursitis, tendinitis, myositis and other inflammations.
Since it is repetition of movement that creates irritations associated with overuse injuries and since people engage in all sorts of repetitive sports activities and repetitive jobs – the danger of overuse injuries is forever present. Generally, if the activity causing the irritation is stopped, the inflammation and pain will probably subside, but if the irritation continues, serious overuse injury is inevitable.
DON’T IGNORE THEM
So overuse injuries must not be ignored. They can and often do lead to diminished and permanent disability … which may lead to an inability to exercise at all. And that’s a state of affairs no one wants. Sometimes only a minor change in the intensity and frequency of exercise will alleviate the overuse irritation. But all overuse injuries, even before they become major, call for proper chiropractic evaluation from a chiropractic doctor who understands the patient’s motivation for intensive exercise.
TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR CHIROPRACTOR
To help avoid problems before they get started, it’s best to have a chiropractic examination and talk your exercise program over with your chiropractor. Then, if you have some spinal abnormality or other structural weakness, the doctor can help you design a fitness program around any such trouble spots.
Copyright © 2010 Health Star, Inc