If you ask a Chiropractor do you help people with sports injuries, invariably they will say yes. If you ask them do they help people with extremity issues (Sprained ankles, wrists, knees or shoulders) again you’ll get the answer yes.
Truth be told, all Chiropractors have some exposure to these types of conditions. Many see enough of them that they have a real proficiency in how to deal with them. Sadly they told us in school we knew enough to deal with every problem of this nature that walks through our doors and many of us believed that.
When you see letters such as “C.C.E.P.” (Chiropractic Certified Extremity Practitioner) or “C.C.S.P.” (Chiropractic Certified Sports Physician) what you are getting is a practitioner who has put a priority on this type of work. This means that he or she has expended a lot of time and energy to gain extra experience in these areas.
To attain these post doctoral designates takes between one hundred fifty and three hundred hours to attain usually with field work to cement the skills in place and often an exam with written, oral and practical components. Not easy to do and demonstrative of a real determination to deliver better care to our patients.
Does that mean Chiropractors who don’t have these are not capable of dealing with these issues. No not really it’s a matter of time and exposure.
What it does mean is that people with these designates have put in a lot more time and energy into the areas of expertise for which they were awarded them than those who haven’t. This should point to a particular motivation to work with a certain type of problems that many practitioners are less prepared to deal with.
