Pro Hockey Chiropractic Society: Bridging Sports and Healthcare

In this edition of the ICA Sports and Fitness Science Council podcast, host Brent interviews Dr. Alan Sokoloff, a renowned sports chiropractor from Baltimore. They discuss the upcoming conference in Dallas for the Pro Hockey Chiropractic Society, where Dr. Sokoloff will present on concussions and their treatment in sports, particularly in hockey. Dr. Sokoloff emphasizes the importance of chiropractic care at all levels of sports, from youth to professional, and the critical role chiropractors can play in injury prevention and recovery. They also touch on broader issues in sports chiropractic, including the need for more professionals in the field and the impact chiropractors can have on their communities.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to another edition of the ICA Sports and Fitness Science Council, trying to bring to you some of the leaders in the industry of chiropractic and sports and fitness. And we've got upcoming conference that we're gonna join. Go down to Dallas, see the Pro Hockey Chiropractic Society. And I've been talking with them and I've got to know several of their presenters. And today we have another presenter with us, Dr. Alan Sokoloff gonna speak with us here from the Baltimore area. Correct. So why don't you go ahead and tell us why you would be considered to be a sports doctor at this pro Hockey Chiropractic Society? Weird. First of all, Brent, thank you for I. me excited to be here. I enjoyed our. Couple off the air short stories that we shared already. This is a weird conference for me. I travel around the country and the world talking about sports and chiropractic. My gut feeling is there's no better way to promote what we do. Talk about what we do. Than through sports. Whether it's T-ball, whether it is flag football, whether it's the NFL or Major League Baseball. Everybody wants to perform better, perform longer. And if we can demonstrate that through what we do with our everyday patients they get great results on the field at a local level, at a high school level, at a collegiate level, and professional and Olympic. Levels. I, I literally just got done doing a webinar for chiropractic university in South Africa talking about this very same thing, and why there is no better time than now to be a sports chiropractor. Everyone thinks our market is saturated. There's no room for me, but there, there are not enough of us to do the work that needs to be done out there. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's great. That's exactly what our council talks about, promotes how sports could be the ambassador for chiropractic to get more people exposed and understand what we do through our athletes and our sport ex our, our exposure through sports. I. And the one guy does a lot of this is Alan Palmer, a friend of both of ours, and he's got his pro hockey chiropractic society gonna meet this July down in Dallas at the Dallas Stars locker room. And I saw that you're gonna be a presenter there, so I thought we would talk and can you give us a little preview or back in my days, we call him Cliff notes version maybe of what you're gonna be. This is one that originally was out of my wheelhouse because, wheelhouse they're talking about, I'm talking about concussions and concussions in sports and concussions in hockey. And while I have never played hockey, I have never worked hockey. I like other chiropractors, understand mechanism of injury and understand concussion and concussion awareness and concussion prevention. And these are the areas that chiropractors in generally should be slam dunk, home run referral sources. For education. So I'm taking a little twists. There are some very qualified presenters that are gonna be down there talking about concussion and all the technical stuff involved with concussion from a hockey perspective. And while I'm gonna put a hockey spin on everything that I do. Whether you are working with a youth hockey team, a pro hockey team, or whether you're working with a little league team or a major league baseball team, the stuff I'm gonna be talking about are gonna be things that you could just take right away and put 'em into your office and start doing stuff now, because like I said before, there are not enough of us to do the work that needs to be done out there. You know, I love that topic too, because this is my 28th podcast we've done for the ICA Sports and Fitness Science Council, and I would say half of 'em, half of 'em, about percussions in sports because I think chiropractors are really leading the way with this. I. I, and for me, I we all have to know what our strengths and what our weaknesses are. So for me personally, one of my weaknesses that we won't talk about today is nutrition. I just suck at nutrition, so I refer to a lot of friends and colleagues that get into it. The other area is in. The neurological happenings of a concussion. I can give it the 1 0 1 talk. There are a lot more qualified guys than myself like, that are gonna be presenting at this conference that, that do a great job of understanding what happens. My take's a little different. My take is, okay, I don't want that person. I don't want to be the first stop for that kid or that athlete coming into my office. But this again, is just me. I don't have that extra training in neurology. I don't have any of those post graduate degrees. I don't have a neurology book in my library. But I have great friends, colleagues that are either neurological chiropractors or neurologists or neurosurgeons or different types of physicians that deal with concussions every day. I. That's not me. What I want is after we figure out what's going on, I want that kid or that athlete in my office because of the mechanism of injury that caused the concussion in the first place. And oh, by the way, is probably duplicating the same symptoms that they had as a result of the concussion. And let's race to see who gets rid of those symptoms first. And at the end of the day, who cares as long as that person gets better. Absolutely. I, you know, I echo everything you just said. My community, I have a, a orthopedic place. They do all the concussion testing and release the care. And I do all the care. And I don't have that, that diplomate in neurology either. I just know you can't have a head injury without a neck injury. And I think that's. This is why you come to these conferences. This is why you can't get online, is talking with us in between classes about how we do it every day in our practices and how we do with our everyday patients and that they don't have to be a a Rockford Ice Ho or part of the Blackhawks. They have to be a Baltimore Oreo for you. You can just be any buddy off the street, expect a head injury, and we know about neck injuries inside and out, and we do great care for them. Thanks for sharing that part. there are so many more Hockey players than there are pro hockey players, but there aren't enough of us to cover that. But even if you're not into hockey, but you like that whole sports vibe, and like you said, not only sports vibe, but they're giving a real cool experience behind the scenes stuff that you normally wouldn't see. And then. The next time you watch a game, you see it differently 'cause you understand little things that are going on. But be able to take everything that you just learned, go back to your underserved community and make a difference in your community. Help save lives. Yeah. I do a whole talk on, youth sports and the number of kids that are injured, the number of kids that are dying as a result of preventable. Sports injuries is horrible. Now, is that a chiropractor's job? Was that in my job description? Probably not, what, think outside the Fri a box for a second and look at the impact you could make on your community as a doctor of chiropractic, knowledgeable in sports, no matter what the sport is. Dr. Todd McDougall got me to come to Madison, Wisconsin to see how to adjust to strong men games, and I thought to myself, when am I ever gonna have a 6 7, 425 pound guy come in my office? I. But the principles that he uses for stability in the lumbar spine, the pelvic, I was able to apply to a retired 82-year-old nurse that was taking care of her husband on hospice so that they could have time alone in their house. It's amazing how you learn this for an athlete and then tomorrow somebody doesn't look anything like a strong man comes in your office. You're able to apply the same principles and I want everyone to understand,. because athletes are goal oriented in run faster, jump higher, lift more, push more, Some of our chiropractic brethren don't understand that everyday patients are like that too. Mrs. Smith wants to turn her head to back the car out of the driveway. Your patient wants to be able to lift and mobilize her husband. People do things every day and treating patients is not about three a week until your insurance runs out or paying this huge. Case fee for minimal results. It's about getting results. Get what are the, what are those patients' goals about getting better and how do you get them to there? Is it about being in my office all the time, or is it about what you do when you're not here? And weaving those things together to allow that patient to really help themselves get better. Absolutely. And I want anyone listening to this podcast to look at the pro hockey chiros.com to see more about this upcoming conference. And like we talked about, you don't want to be a hockey chiropractor to come here and learn amazing things. You're gonna hear some cool hockey stories and be some, see some chiropractors that have seen some crazy things in the locker room. And we're gonna be in the locker room, right? I'm gonna be in the Dallas Stars locker room. That's gonna be pretty neat. So we're looking forward to it, and I always finish the floor with my guests. I always ask my guests if they have anything more they'd like to add or anything we need to talk about. The floor is yours. you. And I appreciate this opportunity and so what it is for me is what is your drive, what's your passion? And mine are kids and athletes because as I mentioned before, there are, I. So many communities in I'll take Oklahoma for example. Do you know that only 25% of the high schools in Oklahoma have an athletic trainer or have some sort of, of professional help? That's that. It's like sending your kids swimming without a lifeguard. There are so many opportunities involved in sports and chiropractic, not necessarily to do their jobs, but if we can train ourselves to be a better part of the entire healthcare community there, there is not an issue. Is there a better time to be a sports chiropractor? Absolutely not. The time's now. Well, thanks again everybody. Again, I'll do one more plug to pro hockey kyles.com. Go on and check out the seminar coming up if you wanna learn more. And again, two of the other podcasts we have other guests. We've had Dr. Winchester, other people on Love to have you come learn more from it others besides me. I thought this was. every. man. All right. That's all good. I actually, I can't, so if you're not a hockey guy, come sit in the back with me.'cause I'm gonna be paying attention to all these other speakers too. Well, everybody has an opening act, right? So there you go. Love to have you come down. Check it out, pro hockey chiros.com and thanks for listening to the ICA Sports and Science Fitness podcast. If you wanna get more involved in Sports Chiropractic, that's what our whole council's about. And same with the other council that we've partnered up with and become friends with to help you become a better sports chiropractor. Thanks for tuning in and listening.