Live sports medicine internet radio

Injury advice resource

(by Dr. Timothy J. Maggs) On March 13, the Structural Management® Hour began airing 3-4 pm EST, and will do so each and every Thursday. The show may be the only radio show in the country dedicated solely to the prevention and treatment of sports injuries. It can be heard by visiting www.StructuralManagement.com. Come a little early to allow time for proper software downloading.

The format of the show will have myself, Dr. Tim Maggs, as host. We will have guests, including Bill Rodgers, from around the country, as well as call-in questions. Questions will also be taken either prior to or during the show by emailing RunningDr@aol.com.

The foundation of the show is based on the fact that our current sportsmedicine system offers “too little, too late.” We’re a medical model system that is “reactive” based. This system has three major flaws: (1) we wait for athletes to break before anyone looks at them; (2) we only look at the site of injury; (3) our primary goal is the elimination of symptoms (in the absence of addressing other contributors of the injury).

These three facts demonstrate that we set the bar of expectations very low with regard to the care and well-being of athletes in this country. This results in an increased frequency of injuries with predictable premature breakdown and degeneration, making future exercise either more difficult or impossible in many cases. In my humble opinion, this is unacceptable.

Athletes and people who exercise and work hard to stay healthy, are yet forced to function with an insurance policy that is designed for the masses. Athletes have much more demanding needs that are not being met by our healthcare industry.

The ideal plan

Recognizing the flaws in our current system, there are steps to be taken to reduce the likelihood of injury and stay active longer in life. The first step is to recognize human beings are a biomechanical, or architectural, structure. We have structural imbalances, weaknesses and prior injuries that are still “in our bones.” We were born with imbalances, and combined with prior injuries, poor habits, diet, height, weight, type of work, type of shoes, mattress, etc..., our “Structural Fingerprints®” must be learned to truly address these problems.

To identify these imbalances is step one. Once learned, it only makes sense to work on correcting them as much as possible. This will dramatically add to an athlete’s career. There are three primary goals when working biomechanically with someone: (1) to improve overall balance; (2) to improve joint mobility; (3) to improve muscle flexibility. And the key to it all...it’s a management issue over the course of your lifetime. The upside is, odds improve at staying active your entire life.

Structural balance

Joint stress is the precursor to injury and premature joint breakdown. If these imbalances can be improved, joints last longer. The first step in balancing the human structure is to add custom orthotics to your shoes. There are many types of custom orthotics, but the primary benefit is to “balance the foundation.” If this is done, balancing the rest of the structure becomes much easier. I am a staunch advocate of flexible custom orthotics, but even rigid orthotics can be better than no orthotics. Further structural balancing requires treatment and rehabilitative exercises, and is well worth any effort put into it.

Increase joint mobility

Under abnormal stress, joints will fixate, or lock up. This is the beginning of the end. Once a joint loses any of it’s normal mobility, the tolerance of this joint goes down, and surrounding muscles and joints have to pick up the slack. This leads to overload somewhere in the kinetic chain, and ultimate breakdown occurs. If left unattended for years, degeneration sets in, and at some point, you’ll pass the point of no return. This is why “pay now” is always so much more attractive than “pay later.” Joint mobilization is what chiropractors do. Some osteopaths also do it. Regardless of who does it, once a week or once every other week is the minimum suggested frequency.

Increase muscle flexibility

We have been promoting our Muscle ManagementTM program for many years now. Rid the muscles of toxins, increase blood flow (food and oxygen to the muscle), then stretch the muscle. This can be done prior to and just after exercise. On a daily basis, this makes a huge difference in how your muscles handle repetitive activity, such as running. A Stick and a tennis ball should be the only tools needed.

In the end, once again, we’ll see an ounce of prevention is well worth a pound of cure. With running being such a repetitive activity, it’s no doubt runners break down at young ages and often never return if they don’t figure a way to manage and maintain they’re structures.

Most importantly, please join me each week at www.StructuralManagement.com, and be ready with questions, answers, comments or complaints. We’re looking to bring this much needed information right into your living rooms or work places. Until then, keep up the good spirit, and never say die.

Dr. Maggs writes for many magazines and travels the country 25 weekends a year teaching The Structural ManagementTM program to doctors in an effort to build his Structural ManagementTM network and to raise the awareness of biomechanics in sports today. RunningDr@aol.com and www.DrTimMaggs.com.