Keegan Chiropractic Sports & Wellness Clinic
44355 Premier Plaza
130
Ashburn, VA 20147
More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles
A Balanced Approach To Injuries
Have you been sidelined by an injury? One thing to consider is how it affects your whole body, not just the injured area. Specifically, I am talking about lower body injuries. The change in normal biomechanics that occurs after an injury to the lower body (hip, knee, leg, ankle, foot, or toe) can have an impact on your spine and general health.
With many injuries to the lower body, recovery involves not bearing weight on the injured area. That is accomplished in a few different ways; the use of crutches, a walking boot, various braces, or just limping. With all of those, your walking biomechanics are altered and, for some, those changes can cause problems.
Take, for example, a sprained ankle. The normal course of treatment involves non-weight bearing for a few weeks depending on the severity of the injury. Lets say an immobilizing boot is used for this purpose. The thickness of the boot causes a leg length inequality, the immobilization of the foot and ankle change your muscular activity with walking, and the lack of use causes weakness in the muscles.
With these changes the chance of acquiring low back pain and spinal dysfunction have greatly increased. The sacroiliac joint is a joint that connects your pelvis to your spine. When you walk the joint must move freely to transfer the correct motion to the spine to help you with balance and coordination. Leg length inequality is one the most common causes of sacroiliac joint dysfunction I see in my practice. It creates muscular imbalance first in the gluteal muscles (the rear end), then the low back muscles try to compensate for that imbalance and the chain of disturbance can travel to the neck and even produce headaches, leaving a trail of muscular compensation and joint dysfunction.
What can you do about it? A whole body biomechanic approach to the rehab and recovery phase of your care is the key to minimizing the effects of your injury. Joint manipulation, therapeutic stretching and exercise, and neurological training all will aid in hastening your recovery and preventing future unforeseen pain. Chiropractic treatment of injuries focuses on maintaining and recovering the balance in your neurological and musculoskeletal systems. With the right exercises, adjustments and therapies you can be back to your activities, and, for some, be even better off.
