My Friends' Notes

My Friends' Notes Did you know the equation to figure out how much water to drink each day is to calculate your weight in pounds, halve this number to give you the number of ounces of pure water to drink each day? So if you weigh 200 pounds you need 100 ounces of water daily.

One of my daughters gave me Andre Agassi's autobiography OPEN for christmas, I was engrossed from start to finish. To learn that he hated the game really amazed me but I guess having been forced to play the game to the exclusion of a 'normal childhood' a degree of resentment was inevitable. What was even more interesting was the fact that his father, who had been the driving force behind making young Agassi play the game, more or less against his will, eventually begged his son to retire because he could no longer handle the stress of watching his son play.
As his career progressed Andre observed that the moments of greatest fulfilment and enjoyment had nothing to do with success on a tennis court but in the positive ways in which he could impact the lives of those around him. At first his friends who were experiencing hard times or crises and eventually hundreds of young people through his educational foundation and the school he opened in Las Vegas.
Not many of us will ever be able to obtain the sort of fame and profile that enables the likes of Andre Agassi to raise sufficient money to build and run a school but I know that in my life greater focus can be given to helping others in what ever way I can. Small steps that each of us take towards making someone elses life better must end up with a cummulative benefit to society as a whole.
My resolution for 2010? To help.

The USA is about to pass legislation to reform its healthcare system. Leading US health ecconomists from Mercer Health and Benefits and Harvard University report on chiropractic management of back pain. They find that:

1. Chiropractic care is more effective than other modalities for treating low back pain.
2. When considering cost effectiveness chiropractic care is highly cost effective and represents good value in comparison to medical physician care for the same condition.
3. Almost half of US patients with persistent back pain seek chiropractic care.
4. Chiropractic care for the treatment of low-back and neck pain is likely to achieve equal or better health outcomes at a cost that compares favourably to most therapies that are used routinely in US health plans.
5. A combination of chiropractic care and physiotherapy led exercise is also much more cost effecttive that medical physician led care.

Further evidence that points towards the need to integrate chiropractic care into the mainstream for the management of back and neck pain. Lets hope that US health reforms push the agenda of cost effective care and encourage health providers to take notice of the facts about how cost effective chiropractic treatment is.

Mark Kennedy BSc.( Chiropractic) DC

More news from the golf course; Stude et al. have published the findings of a written survey of 402 recreational golfers who completed a survey.

• 4 of 5 (80%) were male and 90% were of working age. 19 were younger than 20, 26 older than 60. 47% had previously had chiropractic care.
• most carried their own clubs and 90% played 3 times a week.
• 9 of 10 (89%) wore spiked shoes when playing. These give stability but add stress to the joints in the foot, leg and back.
• 1 in 8 (12%) reported past injury while playing golf, about 1 in 3 (33%) reported pain that interfered with their enjoyment of the game. Most common areas of discomfort after playing were the back (26%), feet (11%), shoulder (9%), knee (8%) and neck (6%).
• Over half (56%) already exercised regularly to maintain their physical condition, but approximately half (47%) said they would also be willing to attend a specific golf fitness program.

Stude and his colleagues suggest that;

• Amateur golfers most frequently complain of back pain/injuries, professionals most commonly of wrist pain/injuries. Foot and knee problems are also common.
• Lower extremity and back problems may be related to use of stamdard spiked golf shoes that restrict movement, stress joints, and are not adapted to the needs of the individual. In a previous study Stude and Brink provided golfers with custom made orthotics for 6 weeks. This was shown to improve balance and body symmetry, reduce fatigue associated with playing 9 holes of simulated golf, improve gait patterns by influencing pelvic rotation and stride length and improve performance in terms of club head velocity and driving distance.

In conclusion then, amateur golfers get more back pain than the pros. Better physical conditioning and better technique probably account for this, and orthotics help improve your game on a number of levels.

For more info about the treatment of back pain and orthotic prescription see www.thewsc.co.uk and give us a call.

Mark Kennedy

Padraig Harrington Interveiw

The following is taken from The Chiropractic Report, Jan 2009
In 2008 Padraig Harrington was voted Golfer of the Year by his professional colleagues on the PGA tour. He won 2 of the 4 majors and this week bids to win the Open Championship for an unprecidented third consecutive year.
For the past 12 years Harrington has been accompanied on tour by Australian chiropractor Dale Richardson, and the Dec 08 issue of the FICS (Federation Internationale Chiropractique du Sport) caried the following interview with Harrington and Richardson.
*Before he had regular care from Dr Richardson, Harrington was missing 4 or 5 tournaments a year from chronic golfing injuries-now he doesn't lose attendance at any.
*He had quite a serious hand injury before the British Open last year. " On Thursday it didn't look like I would be playing and Dale did a great job of getting me ready." He went on to win - successfully defending his title from 2007.
*Harrington and Richardson are on tour together 20 weeks annually - and while Harrington has a healthcare team in Ireland, Dr Richardson is his only health professional on tour.
*He describes his average day while on tour, preparing for and playing in tournaments;
"Essentially I do 45 minutes of stretching, stability, core work to get warmed up, then have a shower and head off to the golf course. After breakfast I spend about 20 minutes with Dale checking that everything is working right and doing a little bit of stretching, then I spend an hour warming up at the range hitting shots.
I go and play about 4-5 hours on the golf course depending on time constraints and energy levels. I could then spend a couple of hours practicing. In my earlier days it was 4 hours practicing, now I keep it to an hour maybe two hours depending on the time of year and the conditions. Then I spend another hour with Dale getting some treatment. That would be my day - I would probably get back in the gym as well if I have the time in the evening."
*Says Harrington "One thing I know through experience is that I need to keep having constant treatment, even when I have weeks off, because I can see even though I would be injury free for say a couple of weeks, I can feel symptoms building up, and if I don't deal with those early signs I'm going to be in trouble."

Good luck this week Padraig!

Welcome

Welcome to Sports and Spine, a brand new blog about sports, exercise and the health of your muscles and joints. It comes from the desk of Mark Kennedy, Chiropractor and wannabe sports star. I wouldn't be too fussy what I excelled in, tennis probably would be the favourite but, Tour de France winner, World champion in F1 or Moto GP would also suffice. Sadly I have left things a little late and must satisfy myself with smaller challenges like competing in the New Forest Half Marathon and playing in my local tennis club competitions.
If you are an elite athlete or a weekend warrior I will bring useful information to you from my own practice experience and from the latest research.