Is your child ready for summer sports?
It’s estimated that 30 million children now participate in organized sports including soccer, football, swimming, gymnastics, hockey, skating, and basketball. As children’s participation in summer sports increases, so do children’s sports injuries. In fact, sports injuries to children and young people now exceed the occurrence of infectious disease. The good news is that chiropractic adjustments for children of all ages can provide tremendous benefits for the treatment and prevention of sports injuries and help to maximize performance potential.
Children between the ages of 11 and 15 account for 55 percent of all sports-related injuries that require hospitalization.
The increase in emergency-related injuries for children includes such common hurts as broken arms and twisted ankles. This is not new, but what is new are the types of children’s sports injuries seldom seen in past generations. These include overuse injuries resulting from small but repetitive insults to the body’s tissues, joints, and spinal column. These types of injuries are seen during summer athletics, and they lay the groundwork for chronic health conditions that can endure throughout life.
Chiropractic focuses on the spine and nervous system. This is so important for children since it is the nervous system that controls the entire growth and development phase.
According to Olympic decathlete Dan O’Brien, “Chiropractic is essential for running. If I could put a percentage value on it, I would say that I compete 8-10 percent better from regular chiropractic care.”
Other athletic performers, male and female, concur with O’Brien. Professional bodybuilder Tonya Knight says, “Chiropractic helps athletes win without pain and aids in enhancing performance naturally.”
Heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield, notes, “I have to have an adjustment before I go into the ring…I found that going to a chiropractor three times a week helps my performance. The majority of boxers go to chiropractors to get that extra edge.”
Your child will probably not need chiropractic adjustment as often as Holyfield, but a visit to the chiropractor is the best way to start summer sports. This visit will make sure the spine is optimally aligned and the nervous system is functioning at its best. Making sure your child is in top shape when the season starts will help maximize his or her performance and minimize any injuries.
Here are some important chiropractic facts to keep in mind while considering its importance for your child.
- Chiropractic is the fastest-growing and second-largest primary health care profession.
- Doctors of chiropractic receive extensive, demanding professional education on par with medical doctors (MDs) and osteopaths (DOs).
- Doctors of chiropractic are primary health providers.
- Chiropractic is recognized by governmental health care programs.
- The Doctor of Chiropractic is an effective source of preventive and wellness care.
- The process of a chiropractic adjustment is a safe, efficient procedure that is performed nearly one million times every working day in the United States.