When we announced that Crossroads was holding an art contest, I expected we would get some creative entries. Topic choice was “draw yourself getting adjusted” or “draw what causes your subluxations.” While we had some awesome pictures entered, this one caught my eye.
There is no doubt in my mind that sports is a leading cause of subluxations for kids and teens. From hockey, to football and even golf, many professional athletes and most professional teams have a chiropractor on staff. When interviewed, Mike Gentry, the assistant athletic director for athletic performance at Virginia Tech, summed up the value of chiropractic, “I see chiropractic as having two functions from my perspective. It helps our athletes return to competition faster if they have sustained some injuries, and secondly, it seems to be preventative, in the sense that it keeps our athletes more mobile and flexible and feeling better.”
For years I’ve seen pro-golfers shown on TV on the sidelines getting adjusted. Football player Jerry Rice even served as spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, saying “There are a lot of things I did to stay in the game, but regular visits to my chiropractor were among the most important.” And just recently, during the final game of the World Cup one player took a bad hit, play was stopped and his neck was assessed immediately on the field. From the TV coverage the person looked like chiropractor doing an adjustment to the upper part of the player’s neck. How fantastic would it be if all kids were given the same high-level treatment as pro-athletes?
While it’s not realistic to expect that Dr. Jennifer, Dr. Graham and myself will be able to attend everyone games (although that would be cool) we can assure you that we are here all week long to take care of your little (and not so little) athletes. Please don’t wait for today’s impacts to your son or daughter’s spine to become tomorrow’s cause of headaches, back pain or worse. Regular chiropractic check-ups are a must for every athlete, no matter what age. Thanks to Miles L. for reminding of us of this!