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Chiropractic Care During the World Track and Field Championships | Winter Sports

Chiropractic Care During the
World Track and Field Championships
By Dr. Melanie Beingessner

While athletes across the country are preparing themselves for the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton this month, Dr. Tamara Anderson and her team of 15 other volunteer chiropractors are organizing themselves for the event as well. They will not be competing; they will be there to treat the athletes who are coming here to compete. Starting on July 28th, Dr. Anderson and her team will be available for athletes as they ready themselves for the start of their events.

Sixteen chiropractors will be working out of two polyclinics that will offer the services of chiropractors, massage therapists, medical doctors, nurses and athletic therapists. The goal for the polyclinics and the professionals who volunteer their time to be there will be to help athletes from other countries enhance their performance for their events.

Team Canada athletes have the benefit of having two permanent chiropractors on their health care team. Their chiropractors offer chiropractic care during training sessions and they travel with them to competitions because the athletes want to be at their best for competitions. Chiropractic adjustments help them to become their best.

People who have never seen a chiropractor may well wonder why an athlete would want to have chiropractic care when most people usually go to a chiropractor to seek help for their low back and neck pain. Actually, chiropractors have been present at many worldclass sporting events such as the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. Many professional sports teams (hockey, basketball, baseball, etc.) have at least one chiropractor who treats their athletes for sports injuries and before every competition or game to enhance their performance.

The reason for chiropractic adjustments before sporting events is because for anyone (athlete or not) the brain and the spinal cord control every part of the body by sending impulses through our nerves. Nerves exit the spine between every vertebra in the spinal column. If a vertebra is not moving in a normal pattern of motion, it can put pressure on a nerve as it exits the spine, which can cause the nerve to function at a decreased capacity. When chiropractors adjust vertebrae that aren’t moving well, (the chiropractic term for that is “subluxated”) it helps the vertebrae to move in a more normal pattern of motion and the nerves to perform more efficiently. A better functioning nervous system causes impulses from the brain to be transmitted to the body more effectively. This is quite simply why athletes are having adjustments before competitions in a world where thousandths of a second can make a difference between the gold medal and “never heard of him (or her)”.

So, for the athletes who are competing in the World Track and Field Championships, we chiropractors wish you well. If, as a spectator, you do see an athlete having an adjustment just before his or her event, you now know the reason why-- performance enhancement due to a better functioning nervous system.

Dr. Beingessner practices family chiropractic care at the Memorial Square Chiropractic and Massage Clinic in northeast Calgary. To contact her call, (403) 273-5653.

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