Are you a football fan?

Over the past six years Northcote Chiropractic has seen numerous young and older patients who share a love of football. Football is a great game and has many health benefits such as:

• Increases aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health
• Lowers body fat and improves muscle tone
• Builds strength, flexibility and endurance
• Increases muscle and bone strength
• Improves health due to the shift between walking, running and sprinting

There are also other benefits, which include:

• It is generally a non-contact sport
• Teaches coordination
• Promotes teamwork and sharing
• Teaches you to ‘think on the run’
• Helps to increase skills in concentration, persistence and self-discipline
• Is a great way to meet people and exercise with friends
• Can provide an opportunity to increase your confidence and self-esteem as well as help to reduce anxiety
• Requires very little equipment so it can be played in the backyard or park
• Is relatively easy to learn, so beginners can easily join in the fun and play basic football for recreation
• Is an international sport and fun to watch!

We love football!

However it does cause some problems or injuries that if go untreated can have a greater affect on the body’s ability to function at its optimum. The main problems we see in children are:

• Muscle strains
• Contusions- trauma on the field
• Osgood-Schlatter – a knee problem, which is most common in boys aged 13-14 years
• Shin splints
• Anatomic malalignments – due to growth or overuse muscle patterns.

Other than trauma caused on the field most of the above problems are as a result of growth spurts, overuse and or muscle strength imbalance. If imbalances and compensatory patterns are identified early, overuse injuries may be prevented. Chiropractic not only helps treat overuse injuries but is also a great way to improve performance and footwork.

Take the work of the pioneering AC Milan Lab, which was established in 2002 by Chiropractor Dr Jean-Pierre Meersseman. Dr Meersseman’s main focus was to prevent rather than treat the player’s injuries through Chiropractic, psychology, kinesiology, and density. Within a year ‘the number of total practice days lost had decreased, as had the club’s use of medicine. Injuries had lowered drastically’(1).

AC Milan not only reduced the total number of injuries, but also started to sign older players. Chiropractic helps adult footballers function at their best! Age is only a number and if you look after your body and get it checked before it breaks down, you’ll be able to perform for longer.

So if you’re a football player (or a parent of one), why not find out how Northcote Chiropractic Clinic can help.