Why Being a Weekend Warrior Requires Chiropractic Care

Here in Ft. Lauderdale, FL we are lucky enough to live in a warm climate that allows us to partake in a variety of outdoor and activities year-round to stay fit and excercise (such as CrossFit, Bootcamp, Yoga, Pilates, Bar Method, Zumba or Qi Gong). With the on-the-go lifestyle most of us keep up, most of our chiropractic patients try to partake in these exercises during the weekend. Others do high-intensity workouts during the week, but do them before or after work and sometimes don’t take the proper steps to warm up properly or cool down. Staying dormant during the week or during the day and then suddenly projecting your body into action can sometimes cause issues. Here are some common chiropractic ailments that plague weekend warriors and what you can do to prevent and treat them:

• Plantar fascitis. This is a common form of heel pain that occurs when the ligament that connects your heel bone to your toes gets overstretched, weak, swollen or irritated. You’ll notice this type of heel pain when you go to stand or walk.
  • What causes plantar fascitis: If you partake in sports that require weight-bearing standing, walking or running- you might injure your heel.
• Ankle sprains. An ankle sprain is an injury to one of the many ligaments in your ankle. Ankle sprains can create soft tissue tears and damage, but also tend to cause your foot to become misaligned as well. Once diagnosed, you’ll hear us label your ankle sprain as Grade 1 (ligaments stretched but not torn), Grade 2 (ligaments are partially torn) or Grade 3 (fully torn ligament).
  • What causes ankle sprains: Spraining your ankle can happen at any time by a sudden change in direction (like with basketball)  or maybe losing your balance on an uneven surface. Usually ankle sprains occur when your foot lands on the ground at an angle.
• Knee pain. Knee’s take most of the brunt of exercise. There are a multitude of factors that can cause knee pain. Your knees are more than just a simple hinged joint, they also twist and rotate. All this movement can present itself in a variety of types of knee injuries.
  • What causes knee pain: All the movement in your knee usually presents itself in a swollen knee. Treating the swelling and inflammation can limit further injury to the knee tissue.
• Shoulder pain. Shoulder pain, like knee pain, can have a variety of causes- however most shoulder pain can be traced back to misalignment of joints. A simple series of chiropractic adjustments can rectify shoulder pain most of the time without need for surgery.
  • What causes shoulder pain: Shoulder pain is usually caused by over-use or trauma by an accident incurred while exercising. Using weights improperly, for example, and then having to do a quick release can cause injury to the shoulder that might necessitate chiropractic adjustment.
• Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow. Tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow is caused by overuse of the hand muscles, forearm or arm that causes muscle pain. This type of pain is generally caused by activities such as tennis or golf, but can be brought on really by an activity that requires a lot of use by the elbow, for example, lifting weights.
  • What causes tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow: Tennis or golfer’s elbow is caused by an injury to the muscle or tendon area on the outside of the elbow. Interestingly enough, tennis or golfer’s elbow can also be aggrevated by a shoulder misalignment, so a chiropractic adjustment to the shoulder’s might ease this condition as well.

How these ailments can be treated by a chirporactor:

• Adjustment. Here are Care Medical Centers, we can adjust your foot bones to make sure they are in proper alignment to take possible stress off your heel.
• Physiotherapy. We can use combinations of heat and ice and other tools to help relieve the swelling and spasms.
• Help you choose the right foot orthotics. We can suggest either custom molded foot orthotics or suggest the best orthotics you can purchase at the store to support your heel.
• Suggest supportive shoes. We’ll let you know what to look for in your shoes to get the best support while you’re working out.
• Elastic taping. Commonly used in physical therapy, taping can provide support to injured ligaments.
• Stretching and strengthening exercises. We’ll show you how to properly stretch and different exercises you can do to help strengthen your injury.

Here at Care Medical Centers, we want to treat the whole you, not just your symptoms. If you are having any of these injuries or symptoms, feel free to call us anytime at (954) 981-4355 to schedule an appointment to see how we can treat you without a prescription. Get your health back with chiropractic care!