Rehabilitation

Dr. Gary Baker is certified in Chiropractic Rehabilitation.

Sports Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Chiropractic are specialty branches of Chiropractic. They focus on injuries and conditions unique to the active patient, as well as promoting principles of physical fitness. Restoring kinetic chain functioning is fundamental to the sports or rehabilitation chiropractor.

Manual methods are used, such as spinal manipulation, extremity manipulation and mobilization, and myofascial release and muscle energy techniques. Exercise programs focus on stabilizing posture by addressing issues such as balance, core, stretching tightened postural muscles and strengthening reciprocally weakened muscles. The concepts can be applied to everyone, of course, not just the athlete.

Evaluation attempts to identify mechanical sensitivities and muscle or joint dysfunctions that are responsible for a patient's inability to achieve a demand minimum functional capacity. Basic skills that patients use in their jobs, sports or activities of daily living are evaluated (DOT) to establish those minimum demands for return to work. Typically, examination proceeds from active to passive tests. Inspection of posture, range of motion and basic skills (DOT) may come first. This can be followed by active provocative maneuvers such as McKenzie or orthopedic testing (i.e., Kemps). Muscle strength, coordination or endurance tests would then come. These are followed by passive tests of joint play and muscle length. Finally, passive provocative maneuvers, such as orthopedic tests or soft tissue palpation, would occur last. The goal of evaluation is to achieve diagnostic triage, monitor outcomes, find key functional pathologies and identify work capacity. All these goals should be met by a chiropractic rehabilitation specialist.