Golfing Without Those Aches and Pains
This section will feature some great tips on how to minimize or eliminate those irritating aches and
pains that can adversely affect our golf game. Whether it's back pain, golfer's elbow, knee pain or
any other aches and pains that are bothering your game, they will probably be covered in this section
by Dr. Hal Blatman M.D. bio
Preventing Golf Related Pain
Many golfers have pain, and it usually doesn’t stop them from playing. They may play differently when in
pain, favoring one part of the body or another, or they may limit or change a part of their swing. I’ve
heard many times how having lower back pain results in a more compact back swing and lower score.
Most golf related pain comes from muscle. This is called myofascial pain. It is generated by knots in
the muscles that cause aching, burning, numbness, and tingling. A skilled examiner can generally feel
these knots. They are generally located within a taut band of muscle. For those with lower back pain,
the most important of these knots are generally located in the lower back and buttocks. For golfers’
elbow, the most important knots are in the forearm.
No matter what your age or physical condition, the most effective prevention for myofascial pain is
tretching before and after play. Indeed, most golfers do not take this part of the game seriously enough.
Many players just take a few swings on the driving range to loosen up, some don’t even do that. Either
choice is hardly adequate for the person who plays in pain or suffers afterwards with pain.
For lower back pain, it is important to stretch the lower back, buttocks, and hamstrings. For forearm
pain, it is important to stretch the arms and forearms.
An athletic trainer can help, and so can a physical therapist or massage therapist. Massage therapists
are a good choice for finding and rubbing out your trigger points.
In future segments of "Aches And Pains" we will talk about what you can do to ease or prevent myofascial
pain in a number of specific areas. If you have any questions about pain that is affecting your game,
just jot the problem down and email it to
achesandpains@cincinnatigolfcourseguide.com and I'll address it here.
Descriptions of pain patterns from muscles throughout the body, and self help techniques for massage and
stretching, are the foundation of a soon to be released book: "The
Winners’ Guide to Pain Relief" by Hal Blatman M.D. and Brad Ekvall. Check on the web site,
blatmanpainclinic.com for the release date in late September or October 2005, and ordering information.
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