Chiropractic: The Athlete’s Secret Ingredient

By: Sarah McWilliams

Sendable BlueDr. Grace Hameister has flown on private jets, schmoozed with world leaders and been to the Playboy mansion. Surprisingly, she’s not a celebrity or a business mogul; she is a chiropractor, and through her innovative practice she is helping celebrities, business moguls and athletes prevent injuries and diseases and heal faster than those using traditional medicine.

Dr. Grace jokes that she didn’t find chiropractic medicine, it found her. Her original plans to go to dental school were derailed when she realized that the field was somewhat boring to her, and in the interim, she competed at a high level in professional water skiing. When her partner was injured and treated by a chiropractor, she saw the power the medicine could have. Her partner healed faster than anyone could imagine and they went on to win the world championship.

Soon after she enrolled in the Palmer West school of Chiropractic and now has her own practice. Her patients include athletes who are looking for  proactive, preventative care , as well as those looking to recover from accidents or injuries.

Jon Biel & Aveda“These days it’s either proactive or reactive care. (I have patients who say,) ‘I just hurt myself working out, can you fix it before it gets worse.’ But I also have patients on the other end,” Dr. Grace said. “I have a 28-year-old patient who just had a double mastectomy. She was diagnosed a year ago and as of this last month, she ran a marathon.”

Her success stems from the integrative and natural treatment that goes beyond much of what other chiropractors in her field take on.

Integrative medicine is really where it’s at. People are looking for more natural methods and effective ones that are scientifically valid, and that’s my specialty,” Dr. Grace said. “In my opinion, you have to (go this way), because (otherwise) you’re not affecting mind, body and spirit from the cellular level on out, you’re not going to get the whole system of motion that you need.”

The biggest problem that Dr. Grace gets is the misunderstanding of her field in general.  The chiropractic profession is one that is often misrepresented in the medical community. But, Dr. Grace proves herself over and over again to the point that Medical Doctors often turn to her to work on cohesive treatment plans for many of their patients.

City of Culver City Corporate wellness lecture session“We’ve evolved to working in tandem with a lot of practitioners, not just waving crystals over people and this voodoo crap,” said Dr. Grace. “I work hand-in-hand with MD’s all the time with pre- and post-op and to help prepare (patients’) bodies for the stress of surgery and then heal like a wolverine right after.”

That’s what makes her practice so special. Her healing times are far faster than physical therapy alone. Dr. Grace believes in taking a multi-faceted approach with her patients, focusing on healing bodies at the cellular level as well as using laser therapies and concentrated nutrition plans.

“I helped a guy who had a complete sprained ankle and got the swelling down within a seven-day period, and he was up and walking a little bit,” Dr. Grace said. “Even his orthopedist was like ‘how are you doing this?’”

Part of the reason chiropractors have so much success healing athletes is because they are capable of the same scope of work as a physical therapist. Many chiropractors such as Dr. Grace work in conjunction to encourage the healing process. But unlike most physical therapists, it goes above and beyond working out the muscles.

What Dr. Grace stresses most is the work that is necessary to dispel the stereotypes surrounding the chiropractic industry. She was drawn to this field because she saw the power in it herself, and uses that power to help heal athletes faster than most could possibly expect.

“It is a constant battle that we have to face — we meaning chiropractors as a profession — that level of not understanding, but that’s why I am so passionate about what I’m doing,” said Dr. Grace. “There are things that you can do, and they are based in science and they work.”

Check Also

Barholics: The Advanced Calisthenics Movement

Athletes everywhere are dropping the weights and hopping up on the bar -- and then they're raising it.

design and development by CCreativeDesign.com