Widely recognized for his accomplishments in working with the San Francisco 49ers is Nick Athens, D.C., and the authors of the article (all of whom have bad backs) sought his comments in writing their story. In his comments, Dr. Athens likens vertebral misalignments to an automobile being out of alignment. In the article, Dr. Athens said, "When a car is out of alignment, it puts wear on the tires. When a spine is out of alignment, it wears down the disks." Dr. Athens optimistically asserts that one day soon, all pro-teams will have team chiropractors as they now have team MD-physicians and team dentists.
The nice thing about this article is it was borne solely out of an interest and genuine recognition of the benefits of spinal manipulation. Refreshingly, void of prejudice, the sports staff at USA Today saw every reason to include chiropractic in their feature article on back pain in the world of sports.
An interesting aside is the fact that the chiropractic profession received an "extra helping" of this positive PR. It seems that the Friday edition of the USA Today remains on newsstands throughout the country the entire weekend! Now we think that's top-drawer exposure!
Dynamic Chiropractic editorial staff members research, investigate and write articles for the publication on an ongoing basis. To contact the Editorial Department or submit an article of your own for consideration, email
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