Teens and Sports Injury Care at
Gray Family Chiropractic
Raleigh, NC Chiropractor Dr. Stacy Gray has extensive training in working with teens and young athletes. Chiropractic care is crucial during the tween and teen years because the spine is rapidly developing and changing over a relatively short period of time. Dr. Gray has a passion for taking care of teens in her practice because they are the ones that she sees the most dramatic change in spinal and postural corrections.
The Most Commonly Seen Conditions in Teens
The most common conditions your tween and teen may complain of are back and neck pain, headaches, and ankle, shoulder and knee problems. As a parent you may notice slumped shoulders, poor posture and see them often popping their own neck and back. These are signs your child needs chiropractic care. Dr. Gray commonly sees sports injuries that occur during the games when players collide with another player or fall from a jump or contact. If your teen is playing a sport it is important to have their spine evaluated by a chiropractor because of the stress of repetitive motion. Repetitive motions can cause injuries to the spine and playing sports can magnify the risks.
Dr. Gray recommends having your teen evaluated before starting a sport, and but especially during the sport season or during that time when their spines are in a growth development period. A properly aligned spine and pelvis can often prevent or minimize injury. It is crucial to have your child evaluated whenever they complain of pain or immediately following and injury.
When there is an impact to the spine from a fall or contact, it often impacts the hips and pelvis as well, which can cause misalignment. If your teen athletes are continuing to run and perform with a misaligned spine it can cause further injury or lifelong problems. As your child develops into a tween and teen, regular chiropractic care is beneficial to correct these minor injuries and contacts. Young athletes musculoskeletal systems are at greatest risk in training and competing in virtually all sports. Your child will notice many benefits under chiropractic care including better posture, more restful sleep, better concentration, less aches and pains, and even better performance.
Our bodies keep a perfect scoreboard of every trauma or injury we endure in our lifetime. A chiropractic exam can identify imbalances, fixations, and distortion patterns in the spine and extremities (feet, shoulders, knees, ankles, wrists, and fingers). These are the predictable and measurable factors that ultimately lead to wear and tear of our musculoskeletal systems.
Postural changes can develop into structural changes underneath. Dr. Gray will perform a biomechanical chiropractic examination and take x-rays if necessary to evaluate your teen for proper spinal alignment. This will enable her to detect spinal changes that may be contributing to inflammation, which can injure joints and structures of the spine. She focuses on long-term pain relief by addressing the body as a whole to prevent injuries in the future.
Dr. Gray is board certified in pediatric adjusting and specializes in adjusting tweens, teens and young athletes. She has a passion for helping teenagers feel better and relieve their pain and symptoms from various types of sport injuries and develop better posture.
Dr. Gray has helped many young teens in the Raleigh community by utilizing specific chiropractic adjustments to the spine and extremities. While in chiropractic school at Life Chiropractic College, she became certified in the Gonstead method of adjusting and is proficient in adjusting the extremities of the spine. Her office also has a state of the art neuromuscular stimulator, called the TheraStim. This tool aids in faster rehabilitation in sports injuries to get the player back into the game. TheraStim is a direct current electrotherapy modality that is utilized for reducing pain, muscle spasms, increasing and restoring range of motion, and increasing circulation to the affected areas. TheraStim or ARC technology as it is called now is a breakthrough in the treatment of soft tissue rehabilitation and Gray Family Chiropractic is one of a few chiropractic physicians in the Raleigh are to offer this modality.
By keeping the spine, pelvis and extremities in alignment through chiropractic adjustments, your teen will be equipped to prevent injuries and will even optimize their athletic performance.
Get Started Today
Many athletes seek out chiropractic care because it is essential to the prevention of injuries. By being proactive not reactive in your child’s developing spine, you can help enjoy lifelong health and stay healthy. Contact Gray Family Chiropractic today to ensure your child is in top alignment for their sports season today!
