Nick Broome Illinois State University
Working with Dr. Todd McDougle for these past few months has really improved my overall body balance and alignment. As a collegiate athlete it is common to experience small injuries that may feel like they haven’t healed perfectly over the years. Learning about my own deficits from Dr. McDougle has really helped me understand the dynamics of the human body and how my performance is affected. In general, if an athlete experiences a smaller injury such as a broken or sprained toe, it can change how you walk if it doesn’t heal properly. When this occurs, it can cause ankle problems starting at the toe, leading on to knee and hip misalignment, and eventually even spine problems. Throughout my career I’ve developed smaller injuries that eventually were treated by doing “rehabilitation exercises”. While these sprains and smaller injuries healed, they led to other smaller misalignment of my other joints. After some time, misaligned joints become unnoticeable and can lead to permanent damage.
At first, I was somewhat skeptical that a Chiropractor could help my shoulder and knee pain. The first time I went to see Dr. McDougle I had an evaluation which consisted of x-rays and overall body balance tests. After the evaluation, I personally saw the x-rays with a noticeable offset of my hips. From then on I decided to make it to see Dr. McDougle at least once every week or two. Just over the summer months I have noticed more smoothness in my running and agility. I have actually increased my forty speed by a whole tenth of a second. My power has also improved in my arms and shoulders! Before I went in to Dr McDougle I had no idea my body was off. Now if my hips or any other joints are not in place I can notice immediately.
Dr. McDougle has been very helpful with working around my schedule so I can drive the three hours from Illinois to go see him. I would recommend that everyone get evaluated by a good Chiropractor by getting a basic evaluation to see if there are any offset parts in their body. Getting checked out earlier trather han later is essential to fix small misalignments before they turn into more serious conditions requiring surgeries.
Nick
