Dr. Robert Silverman does a great job as author of our "Sports Science" column – but that's not why we recently interviewed him.
Dr. Silverman, can you share with our readers what motivated you to focus your practice on sports medicine / athletes? One, I suffer from congenital torticollis. Two, I've always participated in sports throughout my life. At age 21, I was treated by a chiropractor for a lower back injury resulting from a basketball game. He was able to successfully resolve the problem in one session, when several months of treatments by a number of other specialists had provided no improvement. When I got off the table, I knew this would be my life's work. I enrolled in chiropractic school soon after. As a result of my personal injury, I've concentrated on sports chiropractic, in addition to treating a variety of other injuries with the general population.
Why are chiropractors well-suited to address the health and wellness needs of athletes? Chiropractors are well-suited to address the health and wellness needs of athletes since our techniques are pointed at injury repair. In addition, most chiropractors were either involved with or have participated in athletics during their lifetime. Chiropractic is widely used in the athletic arena. For instance, every NFL team has an official chiropractor, many Olympic teams have several on staff, and virtually every other professional sports organization has a team of affiliated chiropractors.
What additional training / education do you recommend for DCs interested in focusing on sports care? I use a number of techniques in my practice, but generally, I use a diversified adjustment technique on virtually all of my patients. I recommend learning a soft-tissue technique like active release technique. As for instrument-assisted techniques, Dr. Tom Hyde's FAKTR tools and protocols are by far the most effective tools. For exercise rehab, I use a wall station, bands and continuous loops, stability pads and kinesiology tape. These modalities are usually performed in conjunction with McGill's core exercises. I also assess my patients' body-composition with a device that analyzes the patient's body fat, visceral fat, and provides a segmental muscle / fat analysis. Finally, I use low-level (cold) lasers (LLLT) to provide accelerated cellular healing, in addition to swelling reduction. Nutrition supplements are also very important for recovery of sports injuries and to enhance sports performance. These are all instrumental in a sports doctor's armamentarium.
What outreach efforts can DCs make in their communities / interprofessionally (referrals, multidisciplinary care, etc.) to get more involved with the athlete population? I will tell every chiropractor who wants to be a sports doctor this: They probably won't go out and get the world-champion, golden-team opportunity right away. It's going to be hard right out. However, as I was once advised, work with all levels of sports patients. My first interest was working with Olympic-level athletes, but my peer told me to never forget Pee-Wee football. He said he received more patients from Pee-Wee football leagues than when he was an Olympic doctor.
When you start off, get the local people; start working with the kids, from junior-high to college age, and focus on your reputation. Start working with them because once you have one or two patients, they will translate into more patients and families, and word of mouth over a lifetime. They will be your practice's backbone.
I think of it like this: Chiropractic works similar to mixed martial arts. It's not what you've learned, it's who's honed it the best and can perform without fail. Of course, we chiropractors have such an inherent advantage because we're critical thinkers and we're using our hands with patients, because we know how to adjust. So if you're injured and going to go to a manual therapist, who are you going to choose?
Editor's Note: Dr. Silverman graduated from the University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic and also has a master's of science in human nutrition. To learn more about Dr. Silverman and read articles from his DC column, visit his columnist page online, which features his most recent article, a comprehensive biography and access to all previous articles he's written for the publication.
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