Gaitlink & Sports

Sports

Each year well-constructed, talent-laden sports teams lose their opportunity to successfully compete in their respective markets due to an overabundance of preventable sports injuries—and every day amateur athletes lose their ability to participate in the sports they love.

Many chronic injuries that resist standard sports medicine treatment can be resolved, and further injury prevented, using the Gaitlink Method.  These injuries and diagnoses (listed below) include:

  • Hamstring muscle strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Groin muscle strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Quadriceps muscle strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Abdominal/oblique muscle strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Achilles tendon, Gastroc/Soleus muscles strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Plantar muscles strain/pull, tear, tendonitis 
  • Rotator cuff muscles strain/tear, tendonitis 
  • Ulnar collateral ligament strain/tear 
  • Plantar fasciitis 
  • Foot strain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Knee strain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Hip strain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Shoulder strain, arthritis, tendonitis, and bursitis 
  • Elbow strain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Wrist strain, arthritis, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Hip flexor strain, tendonitis and bursitis 
  • Neck strain 
  • Mid-back strain 
  • Low back strain 
  • Turf toe 

THEORY

John Mennel MD, author of the book Joint Pain brings three facts to our attention: 

  • When a joint is not free to move, the muscles which move it cannot be free to move 
  • Muscles cannot be restored to normal if the joints which they move are not free to move. 
  • Normal muscle function is dependent on normal joint movement.  

In standard sports medicine, we have put emphasis on retraining and redeveloping muscles with sparse attention given in treatment to the joint itself. If the prime fault can be corrected, the secondary abnormalities resulting from it can usually be corrected too. 

These joint play movements are very small but precise in range. Most sports medicine practitioners, from athletic trainers to physical therapists, do not have the training to determine the presence or absence of the precise normal functions within a particular joint. As a result, the primary component of the musculoskeletal system is usually overlooked.  

Dr. Swanson has used the Gaitlink Method to return athletes to normal function in the following sports programs: 

  • National Basketball Association (NBA) 
  • National Football League (NFL) 
  • Collegiate Sports 
  • United States Olympic Athletes 
  • Australian Olympic Athletes 
  • Local School Athletes 
  • Local Recreational Athletes 

Reference

  1. Mennell, J. McM. (1964). Joint Pain Diagnosis and Treatment Using Manipulative Techniques. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company.