Yes, your chiropractor can help you with your golf game! Hoorah for spring! It's time to trade in the shovels for the golf clubs. Many golfers will be contorting and twisting their spines while driving golf balls this time of year. Couple that motion with bending and putting along with several miles of walking, and you have a pretty good workout. Unfortunately this also brings with it the potential for lower back, neck and shoulder injury.

As a chiropractor, I look at the body in balance from head to toe which is the essence of the golf swing. Anything interfering with the stance or the grip restrictions in the swing will have a profound affect on your golf swing. There are three fundamental causes of golf injuries that I deal with almost on a daily basis during golf season: Poor posture, lack of flexibility and lack of balanced functioning muscles. Poor swing mechanics would be the fourth area, but I leave that to the golf pros to deal with.

The body is supposed to have natural spinal curves. Many golfers have lost those natural curves thus the spine has to function differently than it was designed to. That leads to uneven wear and tear in our joints causing misalignments of our spine (sometimes painful and sometimes not yet painful) along with early degenerative changes.

Arthritis in the spine is soon to follow if these conditions go untreated. When I refer to treating these conditions, I don't mean treatment by using pain medications. That may ease the pain, but it will not discover the cause of the problem and do what is necessary to resolve the problem. To find out what causes the pain, degeneration or injury, a thorough spinal exam is needed.

A spinal exam done by a chiropractor will tell you if any of the 24 bones of the spine are out of alignment. We call this a subluxation. If a subluxation is present, one or more of the spinal bones is out of position and can be causing damage to your body. This misaligned bone will be interfering with the nerves that enter and exit the spinal column thus not allowing your nervous system to work as it was designed to.

We all know what can happen if any of our nerves are involved... pain, disease, injury just to name a few. If the messages can't reach the brain in order to direct the body to function as it should, many problems can occur in the body. Your golf score is only one of a long list of problems associated with subluxations in your spine.

The great thing is that as your spine is realigned, with the help of your chiropractor, so does your body become healthier in more ways than you can imagine! So, when the spine is aligned as it should be, not only do the joints and organs and tissues of your body function as intended, but your golf swing has a better chance of getting you that desired low score while enjoying the game pain free.

Remember, you probably aren't aware when your spine is subluxated and not working its best as pain is often not a symptom until long after the damage has been done. So the next time you top a normally easy shot, fail to bring your hands through your stroke, or send your ball into the water instead of on the green, it may be time to ask yourself if chiropractic can help your golf game and your overall health this season!

For any questions about becoming a healthier you this golf season or about checking out your spine before and during the season, give us at Spoelstra Family Chiropractic a call at (208) 667-7434. You can also find us on the Web at www.CDAHealth.com.