The Mysteries of Injuries

A person with an exercise- or sports-related injury has many questions: When can I start exercising? When can I get back to my sport? What can I do to prevent this from happening again? The answers to these questions are relatively straightforward. But for some, injuries continue to happen. Which leads to the key question: Why did this happen to me?1,2

This is the hardest to answer. Some injuries may occur even when you're doing the things you're supposed to be doing. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and move on. But it's also very important to continue to try to discover the underlying causes.

If we dig deeper, we'll find that there are three main sources of training injuries: (1) under-preparation, (2) over-training, and (3) lack of focus or not paying attention.

Under-preparation means doing things you're not ready to do. People who have never done aerobic exercise go out and try to run five miles. People who have never done strength training go to the gym and try to lift weights that are too heavy. People who have never taken a yoga class go to one, like it, and then go every day for a week.

These exercise patterns can be dangerous, physically, and may directly lead to injury. A 16-year-old teenager has some leeway and can get away with making a variety of training errors. This may even be true for those who are in their mid-20s. But persons who are older need to train on a trajectory. Good principles to follow include starting slowly, starting with the basics, and making sure to include rest days in your training program. Build up your strength and stamina. Doing more than you're ready to do will send you straight to your chiropractor's office or even to the hospital.

Over-training means doing too much. Most of us are guilty of this. For example, you love to run, you build up your weekly mileage to a good level, but then you keep piling on distance. All of a sudden you've got a stress fracture in your leg or a bad strain of a calf muscle.

How do you know when you're over-training? The key is to train smart, and to be aware of the possibility of over-training. The temptation to do more is always there, but the result is never good. The short-term gratification is completely outweighed by the frustration and loss of conditioning resulting from injury-enforced down-time.

What about focus and paying attention? Many injuries happen during normal training because the person's mind wandered off. People pay more attention to the TV or to their incoming text messages than they do to the equipment they're using or the weight they're lifting. The result is an injury, sometimes a bad one. In fact, you're very unlikely to sustain an injury during normal training if you're completely focused. Maintaining focus is part of the discipline of training.

But even if a person is doing all the right things, aren't there underlying issues that may predispose that person to injury? The easy answer is "yes". The hard part is to accurately assess and possibly diagnose such issues.3

A big part of the assessment process is the acquisition of knowledge. In the realm of exercise and fitness, some personal knowledge of biomechanics can go a very long way toward preventing injuries. Your chiropractor can help you learn more about human biomechanics and physical performance.

1Chow JW, Knudsen DV: Use of deterministic models in sports and exercise biomechanics research. Sports Biomech 10(3):219-233, 2011
2Stergiou N, Decker LM: Human movement variability, nonlinear dynamics, and pathology: is there a connection? Hum Mov Sci 30(5):869-888, 2011
3Carter CW, Micheli LJ: Training the child athlete: physical fitness, health and injury. Br J Sports Med 45(11):880-885, 2011

Exclusive Offer

New Patients Receive a Free Consultation

Office Hours

Our Regular Schedule

Monday:

8:45 am - 12:00 pm

2:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Tuesday:

Closed

Closed

Wednesday:

8:45 am - 12:00 pm

2:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Thursday:

Closed

Closed

Friday:

8:45 am- 12:00 pm

2:00 pm- 5:30 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Closed

Sunday:

Closed

Closed

Location

Find us on the map

Testimonials

Reviews By Our Satisfied Patients

  • "So Glad I found Synaptic! This is the fastest I've ever bounced back from severe back pain."
    Dani St. Jean Baldwinville, MA
  • "Best chiropractor ever!! These guys are amazing. They have done wonders for me. I recommend them to everyone I know"
    -Robin Potter Hicks
  • "I came to Dr Mexico with severe neuropathy of my feet caused by cancer treatment drugs. I was told I had permanent nerve damage and there was nothing they could do except give me Gabapentin oxycodone and morphine sulfate. I've been in this program for about a month-and-a-half now and I just stopped taking the morphine sulfate. My pain level has gone from a 3 while on drugs to a 2 while now only taking oxycodone and Gabapentin and now totally off the morphine sulfate. And I still have a month and a half to go on his treatment looking forward to coming off more drugs."
    -Richard Joseph Donati
  • "Five Stars on Google"
    Matt Durfee
  • "Great friendly people."
    -Michelle Sirois
  • "Can't recommend this practice highly enough. I wasted years on failed PT treatments, xrays, ultrasound and cortisone shots, relying on unhelpful advice from various doctors. I couldn't even get a consistent diagnosis. I finally have a drug-free, healthy approach for living with chronic SI joint problems. I wish I had met Dr. Mexico earlier. It would have saved me years of pain and frustration. And they always work to get you in immediately if you are having problems. I woke up this morning unable to breathe without discomfort, and they got me in today. And I will sleep tonight comfortably because of Dr. Mexico. Don't wait another day if you are experiencing back or joint pain. You deserve to live pain free. I have found tremendous, life-changing relief with this chiropractor. Thank you Dr. Mexico for your consistent focus and effort in healing others."
    -Cathy Hand Cunningham
  • "I have been dealing with LBP for 3+ years now. I have seen many Dr's and specialist for my issue. No one has listened until I saw Dr. Mexico! He was the first to actually look at my MRI results and listen to me, he explained everything in detail and made sure i understood. Its going to take awhile before I'm "fixed" but I have to say I haven't felt this good in years. Thank you Dr. Mexico"
    -Sarah Frediani
  • "I would recommend Todd Mexico, he is very considerate, respectful as well as informative. Willing to research your individual issues and provide relief if possible. He helped me!"
    -Liz Taylor
  • "I called Monday morning in a lot of pain after being up the last four nights in pain. They got me right in and I am feeling so much better! Dr. Mexico is a Miracle worker!"
    -Jody Winters
  • "There is no better. An amazing team. If it were not for Dr. Mexico and his treatment, I would still have chronic pain in my neck and back. Thank you!"
    -Cheryl Jordan-Bobick

Featured Articles

Read about interesting topics

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Sign up for more articles