Winter Olympics 2018

If you are anything like us at the clinic, you are excited for the Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang, South Korea! One of the more enjoyable aspects of the Olympics are the touching human interest stories. Most of all stories are about athletes who have overcome adversity, poverty, or significant injury. Furthermore, there will likely be mention of rehabilitation treatments that a Winter Olympic athlete credits with their recovery. One sports rehabilitation technique that we hope to see highlighted at this Olympics is Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization.

The Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization approach has been used by the Czech team for decades. It has since spread to many other countries including the United States. The emergence of Czech ideas within the United States rehabilitation and sports chiropractic profession has grown extensively over the last 15-20 years.

Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization

The Prague Rehabilitation School revolutionized the management of musculoskeletal pain and sports injuries. Neurologists by the names Vaclav Vojta, Vladimir Janda, and Karel Lewit took a special interest in rehabilitation of the neuromuscular (or movement) system. These doctors focused on the value of manual approaches such as chiropractic, joint mobilizations, and functional rehabilitation. They studied the assessment of muscle imbalances, joint dysfunction, and global movement patterns.

The work of these three men influenced the work of Dr. Pavel Kolar, and his work now represents a very innovative and powerful approach to rehabilitation. Dr. Kolar has served as team physician for Czech Olympic teams, national ice hockey and national soccer teams, and Davis Cup tennis teams. His development and use of Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization as a sports rehabilitation treatment has gained wide recognition. Athletes from around the world have sought his care, including hockey great Jaromir Jagr and tennis stars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to name a few.

In fact, Jagr recently returned home to the Czech Republic to seek treatment for a knee injury. This injury prevented him from playing for the Calgary Flames in the NHL for the past month. The full story on Jagr can be read at nhl.com.

Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization at Elite Sport & Spine

At Elite Sport & Spine, our chiropractors have extensive training in Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization. Dr. Moira Martin had the opportunity to study under Dr. Pavel Kolar as well as other Czech and American therapists. While Dr. Zach Shiels studied with Czech therapists and Dr. Dave Juehring. Dr. Juehring is the director of the Sports Injury & Rehabilitation Department at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, IA. He was in the first group of American clinicians to travel to the Czech Republic and study under Dr. Kolar. He consequently has one of the most extensive backgrounds in Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization and the Czech approach to rehabilitation in the United States.

Thanks to the influence of these Czech clinicians, we now look for predictable patterns of poor movement or dysfunction within the human body. We can then easily correlate these patterns with pain or injury. The Czech model offers the ability to not only treat pain or symptoms, but to identify underlying causes. The site of pain is often merely the weakest link in the movement chain and not the only area that needs treatment. With Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, it becomes possible to achieve central nervous system coordination of movement and optimize how the body functions and performs.