Categories: Athletes

Chiropractic Keeps Minnesota Twins Pitchers Kyle Gibson & Trevor May on Top of Their Game

Share

Sometime after Kyle Gibson starts for the Twins in their home opener Monday afternoon, the durable young right-hander will connect with perhaps the most important member of his support team this year: his Chiropractor.

Gibson is still just 28, smack in the prime of his career, but there were times during the second half last season when his lower back started to bark at him. In early August in Toronto, for instance, he was shelled for eight earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings.

“I had a problem in Toronto,” Gibson said.

“There were a couple starts where I didn’t sit down in between innings,” Gibson said, “because if I sat down, my hips just got tight.”

Meanwhile, fellow Twins pitcher Trevor May, 26, was dealing with lower back issues of his own. In May’s case, the additional pounding of making multiple relief appearances without much recovery time had caused issues with the hip and lower-back area of his left (landing) leg, as well.

May’s physical woes left him unavailable for days at a time while the Twins chased their first postseason berth since 2010. Massage and electronic stimulation could only do so much to keep May on the mound.

A few sporadic sessions with a chiropractor didn’t provide immediate results, so May discontinued them.

Upon returning to Seattle this offseason, the yoga devotee decided to up the ante and visit a chiropractor weekly for hour-long sessions. This time, he began to see the benefits.

“A couple weeks before spring training, I felt it coming on a little bit again,” May said. “I was like, what is going on? I got it adjusted and my chiropractor said, ‘Man, you are way, way out of whack.’ He explained to me where my pain was and why the hip was pressing against where it was and if we get that moved back, just lengthened out, it’s going to be really sore for a few weeks, but then it’s just going to go back to normal.”

OVERCOMING FEARS

In 2014, his first full season in the majors, Gibson saw a chiropractor a few times at the recommendation of Twins closer Glen Perkins.

Gibson missed a start in late July after getting shelled at home for six earned runs against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“One of Perk’s guys came in and adjusted me,” recalled Gibson, who threw seven shutout innings at Kansas City his next time out.

That never led to a regular appointment, partly because of Gibson’s relative youth but also because of a long-held fear of what a chiropractor might do to a young athlete’s spine.

“My view of them was, ‘OK, I want you to lay on a table and I’m going to pop your back and you can come back in a week,’ ” Gibson said. “Once you start doing it, you’ve got to keep doing it the rest of your life. That was my view.”

A conversation with May early in spring training this year left him more open to chiropractic manipulation.

Hoping to build on the gains of a breakthrough 2015 but still bothered by soreness in his lower back, Gibson asked May for feedback on his chiropractor. May, who by then was going once at week to Darin Stokke at Lifestyles Chiropractic, had nothing but good things to say about the sessions.

“We found that baseball players get skeletally out of line,” May said. “They do one motion one way much harder (than most people), and my hips were really, really out of line. Seeing a chiropractor consistently has helped me make sure I’m getting readjusted and staying in line as much as possible.”

While initially there was some concern that the bullpen simply did not agree with May’s back, his chiropractic sessions convinced him (and the Twins) that he could manage the additional workload with proper preparation.

What derailed him in September 2015, as it turns out, was a problem with the set joint, where the left hip and lower back meet.

“It was all muscular,” May said. “It was just because one hip was closer to the spine than the other side. The other side was normal. (The left side) was just pressing so much and you get so much inflammation. It was just a perfect storm. It was just a little extra torque being in the ‘pen. That’s why it was bothering me. Now I’m on top of it.”

As May explained it to Gibson, realignment of the spine would allow the overtaxed areas of a pitcher’s core to meet the challenge of persistent pounding.

“Letting those muscles unflare and then heal and rebuild them back to where they’re supposed to be, that’s what we’re doing,” May said.

After doing some “normal treatment stuff” as a warmup, Stokke would check May’s alignment much the way a tire installer might need to check an automobile before sending it back out into traffic.

“He checks where you legs are,” May said. “If he sees you’re out of line, he puts you back in line, and the next day I try to do some exercises and heavy strength stuff, just to build those muscles back up. I’m seeing soreness go and I feel more in line and healthier.”

BELIEF SYSTEM

Despite taking the loss in his season debut in Baltimore, Gibson reports much the same results from his twice-weekly chiropractic sessions this spring.

“Toward the beginning of spring training my back started getting sore again,” Gibson said. “Going twice a week helped get things moving in the right direction.”

Now that he feels his lower-back problems are under control, Gibson plans to scale back to a single visit per homestand. That way he won’t have to find somebody to visit on the road, while also limiting those realignment sessions to perhaps two per month.

“It has made a big difference in my hips and just everything,” said Gibson, who set career highs for starts (32) and innings (194 2/3) last season. “My skeletal system was basically allowing my muscular system to stay tight and not function properly. That caused some nerve irritation.”

While May features the classic “drop and drive” delivery, Gibson is from the “tall and fall” school that should, in theory, produce less strain on a pitcher’s hips and back. That didn’t prove to be the case over Gibson’s first few seasons in the majors, so he finally realized adjustments were needed.

“Some of my problem was just that I had some tight hips pulling my pelvis out of line and causing some irritation in the nerve,” Gibson said. “There were certain things I realized I could pitch through. You find ways to get around certain sorenesses and aches and pains.”

If the Twins can get 200 innings out of Gibson and 65 to 75 relief appearances out of May, they won’t just have a better chance to end a postseason drought that has reached five years and counting. They could have additional members of their pitching staff lining up for realignment sessions.

“It’s good,” Gibson said, “to feel good again.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: circleofdocs.com

Kyle Gibson, last season his lower back started to bark at him. The durable young right-hander connected with the most important member of his support team, his Chiropractor. While Trevor May, was dealing with lower back issues of his own. In May’s case, the additional pounding of making multiple relief appearances without much recovery time had caused issues with his hip and lower-back area of his left (landing) leg, as well.

Post Disclaimers

Professional Scope of Practice *

The information herein on "Chiropractic Keeps Minnesota Twins Pitchers Kyle Gibson & Trevor May on Top of Their Game" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

Blog Information & Scope Discussions

Our information scope is limited to Chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somatovisceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.

We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.*

Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.

We are here to help you and your family.

Blessings

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN*, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License # TX5807, New Mexico DC License # NM-DC2182

Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN*) in Florida
Florida License RN License # RN9617241 (Control No. 3558029)
Compact Status: Multi-State License: Authorized to Practice in 40 States*
Presently Matriculated: ICHS: MSN* FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner Program)

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN* CIFM*, IFMCP*, ATN*, CCST
My Digital Business Card

Published by

Recent Posts

Overcoming Fear of Exercise: Tips and Strategies

"For individuals who want to exercise but have fears or concerns, can understanding what they… Read More

March 28, 2024

Sleep Better Tonight: Try Sleeping with a Pillow Between the Legs

For individuals with back pain, can sleeping with a pillow between or under their knees… Read More

March 27, 2024

Peppermint: A Natural Remedy for Digestive Problems

For individuals dealing with digestive issues or bowel disorders, can adding peppermint to a nutrition… Read More

March 26, 2024

Exploring Acupuncture as a Treatment for Eczema

For individuals dealing with eczema, can incorporating acupuncture into a treatment plan help manage and… Read More

March 25, 2024

Recognizing Whiplash Signs and Symptoms: A Complete Overview

Those experiencing neck pain, stiffness, headache, shoulder and back pain may suffer from a whiplash… Read More

March 22, 2024

Discover the Health Benefits of Nopal: A Nutrient-Rich Vegetable

Can incorporating nopal or prickly pear cactus into one's diet help individuals trying to lower… Read More

March 21, 2024