Jeff has been receiving Chiropractic treatment from Dr. Ted Forcum, D.C. of Tigard, Oregon. Dr. Forcum is one of 4 chiropractors that were members of a 62-person healthcare group who treated over 400 U.S. Olympic athletes in Beijing. “Without Chiropractic care, I doubt that I would ever have been able to reach these levels or been able to train at such an intense level,” said Hartwig.

Following his first Olympic experience, Jeff went on to set the American pole vault record in 1998 when he cleared the bar at 19 feet, 9 inches. Fortunately, he didn’t have to jump quite this high to qualify for Beijing, when his vault of 18 feet, 8 inches made him the oldest member of this year’s team.

Jeff credits some amazing results from Chiropractic as the reason he is able to continue competing: “The first time I was treated by a chiropractor was akin to a miracle. It was a much better option than simply using conventional medicine because my injuries healed faster and my whole body felt better.”

The history of Chiropractic being available to help athletes like Jeff goes back to the year 1980 and the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. Since then, chiropractors have joined with medical doctors, massage therapists and certified athletic trainers to provide health care services to America’s gathering of elite athletes.

“Chiropractic fulfills a niche need, not only by treating injuries but also by aiding in recovery and positively impacting athletic performance,” said Dr. Forcum. “Chiropractors promote active care and treatment with a commitment to healthy progression and rehabilitation.”

Jeff had to be pleased, at the age of almost 41, to be a member of the U.S. team and to participate

in Beijing. However, being a competitive athlete, his performance in the Olympic pole vault qualifying round that left him only 4 inches short of making it into the finals had to be somewhat disappointing. His best vault in Beijing was 18 feet, 2 inches and it took 18 feet, 6 inches for 12 of the 38 competitors in the field to make the final round of jumping.

Now, with the 2012 Olympic Games planned for London looming just 4 years away, it will be inter­esting to see if Jeff might have one more appearance left in him. With Chiropractic services available to him and an elite athlete’s desire to keep on competing, only time will tell.

Source: The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. “Jeff Hartwig, Oldest American to Qualify for the Olympic Team in Pole Vaulting, Attributes Success to Chi­ropractic Care.” August 2008. http://www.f4cp.com/press_releases/PoleVaulter.htm

The study involving 23 patients was recently conducted to determine if electro­acupuncture could be of benefit to first-time ischemic stroke victims. (Ischemic stroke means that a local area was cut off from the normal flow of blood causing the regular flow of necessary oxygen to the area to be interrupted.)

Electro-acupuncture involves the use of 2 needles attached to a device that produces a regular and continuous electric impulse. The needles are inserted at known Acupuncture points. The impulse travels through one of the needles, on throughout the body and exits via the second needle.

Following their stroke, each victim was given a course of conventional rehabilitation. A study group and a control group was then determined with members of the study pro­vided with 8 courses of electro-acupuncture treatments.

Acupuncture was delivered over a period of one month’s time. After 2 weeks, the motor performance of both groups was tested using two recognized scientific measuring standards. This was done again following 4 weeks of treatment and repeated at 3 months and 6 months later.

The group that received electro-acupuncture showed more significant improvement results following 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 3 months after the treatment according to one of the measurement tools. The second measurement standard used showed that while there was no significant difference between each group in overall performance, there was sig­nificant improvement in upper limb function for the study group.

From these results, victims of such a stroke would certainly be advised to include a course of Acupuncture into their recovery program. Acupuncture is known to restore energy flows to blocked areas of the body. Energy flow restriction caused by a stroke could likely show improvement as in the case of this study.

Researchers concluded that electro-acupuncture can be valuable in improving the movement and motor function of the body, especially in the upper limb area, for individ­uals who have experienced a stroke.

Source: Acupuncture.Com 2007 http://www.acupuncture.cominewsletters/m_jun07/res.htm

One dramatic case of a 17-year-old pole vaulter who fell on his head from a height of 10 feet did have a very happy conclusion as a result of Chiropractic intervention. However, before he sought the help of a Chiropractor who put his body back in working order, his life was anything but pleasant.

The athlete was competing in a high school track meet when the accident occurred. Immediately after the fall on his head from about 10 feet above ground he noticed the onset of neck pain that was focused at the base of his skull. His condition only worsened from that point in time.

Soon he began suffering from back pains, which he described as unbearable, everyday occurrences. He also reported daily headaches with severe migraines occurring approximately 3 days per week. Several days after the accident, he began experiencing blackouts — some time later were identified as petit mal seizures. These increased until he had them 4 times per day.

Within 6 months he was experiencing depression, loss of appetite, lethargy, lack of concern for himself and erratic sleeping patterns. As time went on, he even had a bout with illegal drugs and rehabilitation. These symptoms continued for 6 long years. During this time period, he and his parents consulted with approximately 24 medical practitioners.
Prescribed medications and treatments all failed.

Finally, the young man sought the help of a chiropractor. An examination was performed and the patient was found to be suffering from a subluxation (a minor misalignment of the vertebra) to the upper neck. The chiropractor immediately began a course of adjustments to correct the subluxation and to reduce pressure on nerves in the area.

The results were nothing short of life-changing for the young man. After one month of care he reported an absence of seizures, reduced depression and improved sleep patterns. After 4 months, migraine headaches were reduced to only about 2 per month. Within 7 months, all of the symptoms were completely gone. One final follow-up 18 months later showed all symptoms remained gone. How different could 6 years of this young athlete’s life have been had he visited a chiropractor immediately after he had the accident!

Source: http://www.chiropracticresearch.org/NEWSchiropractic_life.html