A WESTBURY chiropractor will be part of the medical team for the 2012 Paralympic Games, the first time that chiropractic has been included in the host medical team.
Kay Pearce of Maristow Chiropractic Clinic says she is honoured to be one of the first chiropractors to work at the Games. Kay hopes that the new team of chiropractors will both help athletes and prove how much chiropractic has to offer.
Kay, who has been practicing in Westbury for seven years said, “It is an incredible opportunity for me and will be an honour and a privilege to represent my country and my profession.
“Physical therapy services at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games encompasses chiropractic, osteopathy, physiotherapy and sports massage. Treatments will be provided at the main polyclinic in the Olympic village (in East London), at the smaller polyclinics at Royal Holloway (rowing and canoeing) and Weymouth (sailing), as well as at all the competition venues and some training venues.
“Working within our scope of practice, chiropractors will use their knowledge, skills and experience to provide pre-event and post-event treatments to athletes of all nationalities. The team will have particular responsibility to see international athletes who do not have their own medical staff and will work closely with the medical professionals, which also includes sports medicine doctors, radiologists and podiatrists. We will provide backup advice and support for national team medical staff and are likely to be sourced by athletes who are used to receiving chiropractic treatment, but whose own medical staff does not include a chiropractor at the Games.”
With a post graduate diploma in sports chiropractic Kay has lectured across the world and treated athletes at international events before, but says the Olympics is a whole new level. She explained, “This opportunity only crops up once in a working lifetime, so it’s fantastic. They assign us to a location, not necessarily a sport but a location, and we will all have duty days. My patients keep worrying about me being away, but it’s only 10 days and we’ll make arrangements for patients so it won’t be any different to me being on holiday!”
