Many musculoskeletal complaints arise from injuries sustained in sports. Each year we see athletic performance draw closer to the limits of human potential. Understanding the biomechanical principles involved helps us to prevent injury and restore functional integrity and stability through rehabilitation. While our lever-like extremities transmit forces and motion at a distance, they also favor musculoskeletal injuries by amplifying forces acting on the body's neuromusculoskeletal system.

The sheer volume of time put into training by professional athletes is often quite remarkable. For example, runners may compete and train over 200 miles per week, swimmers may spend four or five hours in the water daily, and the acquisition of skills for an event such as a pentathlon may utilize even longer periods per day. Thus, the exploitation of athletic prowess can easily be disrupted by major and minor injury problems.

There are good reasons why the athlete should seek a sports chiropractor for the treatment and rehabilitation of a sports injury. Active people are physically and emotionally different from sedentary ones. Most physicians have not had special training in sports medicine or rehabilitation. Consequently, even outstanding physicians who don't treat athletes regularly often make mistakes in the diagnosis and treatment of athletes' neuromusculoskeletal problems

Sports chiropractic and chiropractic rehabilitation have developed at a considerable pace over the last decade. As with other areas of chiropractic, where knowledge and understanding are rapidly expanding, it is necessary for the chiropractor to first be given an adequate basic preparation, and then be reminded of the necessity to keep abreast of the latest developments and advances. Thus, appropriate and timely rehabilitation protocols are essential