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Golf is a trendy sport that people choose as a form exercise for health improvement and entertainment as well as relaxation. Although classified as a lower intensity game than other sports, the rate of golfers experiencing injuries is actually quite high. Golf requires players to have good physical strength, high concentration and precise techniques. The vast majority of both amateur and professional players are prone to injuries from improper practice and overexertion. If left untreated, injuries can develop into chronic conditions that affect the function of joints and muscles.
According to Dr. Marc Tafuro, a 15 years certified golf performance enhancement and injury specialist, learning and understanding the types of injuries as well as knowing how to prevent them will be very useful for golfers to proactively protect their health.
Common Injuries When Playing Golf
Here are 9 common injuries to which golfers should pay attention.
Backache
When a golfer plays the sport, the twisting motion (swing) can put a lot of pressure on the spine and muscles. At the same time, a bent posture when playing for a long time can cause back muscle spasms and unogoal, leading to serious injuries. To limit these injuries, golfers should perform more stretching exercises in order to increase the flexibility of back muscles.
Experts estimate that up to 80 percent of the population will experience back pain at some time in their lives. The problem can be treated with a non-invasive and drug-free alternative called Chiropractic. Find your nearest chiropractor for your back pain problem today! 1. What is low back pain? Low…
Tendonitis in the elbow
Tendonitis in the elbow is common among golfers. Golf elbow syndrome occurs when there is damage to the inner tendon area. These injuries are usually sustained during the times when a player makes the swing.
Rotator Cuff
Shoulder rotator cuff can be injured from the great stress of swinging, hitting an obstacle such as a tree root or a rock, or from overtraining. At the same time, the repetitive movements when playing golf can cause players to develop tendonitis, bursitis or torn shoulder muscles. The pain in the shoulder increases when the player swings or raises his arms above his head.
>>> Exercises for treating neck and shoulders pain effectively
Wrist pain
Continuous movements at a fast speed can lead to an injured wrist. The most common condition experienced by golfers is tendinitis – a swelling of the tendon.
Knee pain
When the player starts to swing, the knee must be subjected to a great deal of tension to balance the axis of rotation of the hip. The intense force of continuous impact on the knee over a long period of time will cause the ligaments to be damaged or torn, which causes severe pain in the knee joint.
Hand and finger injuries
Moving at a fast and continuous speed when playing golf will cause damage to the hands and fingers. The most common is tendonitis, fracture or deformity of the finger bone.
Neck Injury
This type of injury is most common in golf beginners who are not used to sudden twists and turns. After a few hours of playing golf, the neck muscles can be shortened, making the neck stiff and painful.
Foot and ankle injuries
Foot injuries occur when a golfer loses balance with his foot, makes a wrong swing, or hits the ball on an uneven surface.
Sprains, tendonitis of the ankle or metatarsal and blisters of the foot are common injuries.
See more: > Ankle pain: Causes and Treatments > Common Foot Problems and How to treat?
Hip Injury
The hip muscles are usually very flexible and can handle a lot of pressure. However, it is very susceptible to injury because of the series of twisting movements made by playing golf.
When a person performs these movements, the hip muscles are heavily dependent on pulling, flexing and extension actions, and they are repeated. Therefore, it requires the glutes and adductor muscles to work closely throughout. It is these rotational and sliding effects that will damage the lower back and hip joints.
How to prevent golf injuries & enhance performance?
Most of golfing injuries in both amateur and professional players are from improper swing mechanics, overpractice and lack of physical conditioning.
To prevent injuries when playing golf, players need to know & correct weakness areas by seeking the advice of a sports healthcare professional which would include:
– Paying attention to warm-up: Before starting to play, please take at least 10 minutes to warm up the whole body and perform stretching exercises can improve range of motion.
– Proper swing technique: Take training course & understanding the mechanics behind the golf swing can effectively help prevention of golf injuries.
– Being aware of the overswing: Relax and take gradually a nice swing at a round of golf. Don’t overswing and put too much stress on the joints & spine.
– Selecting the right club: It’s important to make sure that the golf clubs are the right fit for individual size and strength. In addition, proper lifting technique can protect the back and shoulder when carrying heavy golf bags.
– Choosing the right shoes: Having right shoes can help effectively avoid golf injuries & enhance the swing technique. Orthotics is also necessarily for supporting a proper stabilizing for golfers who having flat feet condition.
– Chiropractic adjustment: According to Palmer University, at least 72% of PGA golfers on tour use chiropractic adjustments to improve their game and prevent injury. By using hands to adjust misaligned structures, chiropractors can perform a correction on the body’s structural alignment to improve its overall functions.
How to treat golf injuries effectively without drugs?
Playing golf with incorrect technique or practicing too much can very easily lead to injuries. If not treated properly, the conditions will worsen.
Using pain relievers is the quick choice of many patients. However, in reality, this is a solution that only provides temporary pain relief. When the drug is stopped, the patient still has to face persistent pain, maybe even worse.
According to the doctors at the ACC clinic, in order for the treatment to be highly effective, the patient needs to be examined to determine the exact cause and location of the damaged or misaligned joint structure. From there, the doctor will recommend the appropriate treatment.
There have been many foreign and local patients with golf injuries who can recover after being treated at the ACC clinic. ACC’s trauma treatment is a comprehensive combination of chiropractic, physiotherapy and rehabilitation with the support of most advanced equipment as well as foot orthotics.
Chiropractic adjustment
Chiropractic is a method of using hands to correct misaligned structures, returning them to their natural position and reducing pressure on spinal nerves, thereby healing pain without drugs or surgery.
Chiropractic helps to improve athletic performance as well as offers several health and wellness benefits vital to everyone:
- Improve body posture & reflex.
- Increase strength, range of motion & flexibility.
- Reduce risk of injury/ pain prevention.
- Speed up recovery time.
- Improve performance of movement for athletes.
- Reduced Stress, Better Focus and Concentration.
Physiotherapy modalities
Physiotherapy is applied in combination with spinal manipulation to restore function for patients. Thanks to support equipment such as Decompression Traction System (DTS) for spinal decompression and movement therapy device of ATM2, patients recover more rapidly with spine rehabilitation and are able to have an early return to normal activities. In addition, other methods such as shockwave, high-intensity laser of the 4th generation also help to stimulate blood circulation, regenerate damaged structures and accelerate the healing process.
The doctor may instruct patients to use Rock-Tape to help stabilize the muscle, relieve pain quickly and shorten the treatment time.
Feet treatment
Foot orthotics especially for patients with flat feet help to keep the body balanced and are able to correct any deviation of the body, preventing pain.
50% Asian children suffer from flat foot syndrome. Many parents know their children has problem in feet but they don’t know how to treat. Flat foot in children can lead to problems in the bones of the foot. The flat foot can cause rolling in of the side, damaging structure…
Rehabilitation
ACC is the first and only clinic in Vietnam that offers the Pneumex (US) programs in rehabilitation. This 7-step-protocol program features 4 types of state-of-the-art machines with different postures, personalized designs to support spinal decompression and improve balance after injury. In addition, Active Therapeutic Movement (ATM2) is also a recommended method to safely support the spine injuries areas to be comfortably compressed and positioned.
