INFORMATION FOR TRAINERS

In sports medicine, the stakes are high. There is immense pressure from coaches and parents to get athletes on the field as soon as possible after an injury. JointFit can help.

Currently 30 of 32 NFL teams employ at least one sports chiropractor. 26 MLB teams do as well. However, some universities still do not incorporate sports chiropractors in the medical team. One of the biggest reasons is that trainers are unaware of what type of knowledge chiropractors possess. The tables on the right show how an average DC curriculum compares with those in an average medical school.

Doctor's of Chiropractic undergo 3 and a half years of professional education after undergraduate study and are now trained as portal of entry providers. Furthermore, Dr Foveaux has a Master's degree in sports science and rehabilitation, experience in sports performance as a CSCS, and unique specialization as the only Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians in the state of Kansas. Additional training hours by subject that Dr. Foveaux has completed is shown also.

Most sports medicine staffs of the past consisted of a general practitioner to take care of general medical conditions, an orthopedic surgeon who evaluated more severe injuries looking for structural pathology, a physical therapist to rehabilitate following surgery and restore global function, and an athletic trainer to act as an administrator to coordinate this effort, provide on-field triage and manage less severe injuries by controlling pain and inflammation through various modalities.

However, a great deal of athletic injuries fail to demonstrate significant structural damage. Treatment aimed at managing pain and inflammation through modalities, medications, or injections is often unsuccessful because those are only symptoms of an possibly unidentified mechanical or functional problem. Physical therapy is may be ineffective in these instances because if a injury process is unidentified it's awfully hard to focus rehab to fix it. Because of this, many professional and college athletic programs are incorporating doctors of chiropractic into the team. Chiropractors specializing in sports medicine can provide another perspective and specialize in correcting segmental deficits mechanical or functional in nature. Segmental joint motion and stability is a foundation of functional movement. Incorporating board certified sports chiropractic into the team can enhance athlete care by helping identify additional factors that will help an athlete return to normal function sooner and prevent re-injury.

Biomechanics and kinesiology tell us that function at this level is vital in preventing injury and that correction of dysfunction at this level crucial in preventing re-injury. A weak link in the kinetic chain results in compensations elsewhere.