the games having honed one particular
skill tremendously. After living and
breathing ankle taping for four days, she
reported having her total time down to
under three minutes to tape an ankle.
She credits working alongside Athletic
Therapists with helping her improve her
speed.
Both Dr. Josh Charles and Dr.
Shayne Baylis learned some new skills
that they likely never expected to
acquire. Dr. Charles reported learning
about fluid draining and injections.
Dr. Baylis learned to suture, tape an
inflamed fat pad, decompress blood
stuck under a nail bed and how to
respond to acute sports traumas. He
also got to teach his fellow practitioners
about acupuncture motor points.
Dr. Elise Damecour and Dr. Scott
McCrimmon both had eye-opening
experiences working with athletes
competing in some of the less
common sports at the games, such as
shooting and equestrian activities. As
Dr. Damecour experienced, “Shooting
athletes present with scapular, upper
thoracic and lower cervical problems
due to the cumulative impact from the
recoil of the firearms. During a training
session, they can shoot up to 50 times.
They report relief with adjustments,
especially of the upper ribs.”
Dr. McCrimmon was also struck
by the impact of shooting sports on
the body. What really amazed him
though, was how often times the
athlete’s health was a lower priority
than the maintenance of firearms or
horses: “Shooters tended to have a lot
of shoulder and neck problems whereas
equestrian riders had injuries all over
their bodies. I learned that they tend
to take great care of the horses but do
not look after their own injuries and just
keep riding.”
By participating in the Games,
chiropractic volunteers had the
opportunity to demonstrate the
professionalism and skill that
chiropractors bring to health care
each and every day in practice. Dr.
Marissa Lee’s experience was that
doctors and nurses were interested in
what chiropractors do. She was able
to demonstrate how she assesses,
diagnoses and treats patients. 2014
OCA Chiropractor of the Year Dr. Eric
Jackson revelled in the chance to
provide interprofessional education
about chiropractic. His most memorable
experience was “working in the
Polyclinic and showing other folks how
cool chiropractic is! Many folks were
surprised at the accuracy of palpation
and how we could identify where
and what was bothering them.” Dr.
Shima Shahidy reported a particularly
satisfying interaction with an emergency
department physician. “Best moment
ever was showing an ER doctor what
lumbar spine SMT looks like and
discussing treatment approaches for fat
irritation.”
Dr. Peter Humphrey was very
intrigued by the opportunity to observe
OCA Advantages
ON Chiropractic
FEATURE STORY / CHIROPRACTORS AT TORONTO 2015
other practitioners’ adjusting techniques.
“For our chiropractors it was probably
an eye opener to see a PT manipulate.
They have some different and effective
methods of manipulation. They are well
trained and they are good. We definitely
benefitted from being exposed to their
techniques and treatment approach,” he
said. “Having said that, as chiropractors
we perform more manipulation than
any other group of practitioners and
it is the frequency with which we
perform manipulation that gives us the
foundation to be excellent manipulators.
Years of building a repertoire of
adjustments and honing our adjusting
skills is what gives chiropractors
expertise in the field. Yes, we opened
their eyes too.” We could not agree
more.
Conclusion
V
olunteering at the Toronto
2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am
Games truly was a once-in-alifetime opportunity to the over 150
chiropractors who participated. In
addition to these individual experiences,
the net impact of the games for the
profession has been positive. Countless
individuals from across disciplines
were introduced to chiropractic and
saw firsthand the results it creates
for patients. The chiropractors who
were involved became exceptional
ambassadors for the profession on the
world stage.
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