Quick Summary: Sports injuries and other conditions we commonly see in runners, lifters, and weekend athletes here in College Station include lower back pain, sciatica, shoulder problems, and neck pain. Sports chiropractic care looks at what is driving those problems from a movement and nervous system perspective, not just the spot that hurts.
From high schoolers enduring two-a-days under August’s relentless heat to weekend warriors putting in a few easy miles on the Wolf Pen Creek trails on Saturdays, sports injuries can be complicated. Pain in one area often stems from another, hips not talking well to the spine, a shoulder issue coming from the thoracic spine, or a hip that will not loosen up because the pelvis is not set up correctly.
Some aches do not require specific care. But if your pain keeps coming back after resting, or has changed the way you move, that usually means a nervous system pattern is present that should be examined. We take digital X-rays right here in the office so we are not guessing about what is going on internally.
Most sports injury visits elsewhere follow the same pattern: poke the sore spot, ask how much it hurts, build a plan based mostly on guesswork. That might bring a day of relief, but it never tells you what is actually going on in your spine or nervous system.
We take a digital X-ray on site before treatment starts. We need to see what is going on in your body, not guess. The source of an athlete’s lower back pain might trace back to years of planting a foot wrong on the field or twisting to swing a bat, something symptoms alone will not reveal.
Treatment is then built to correct that pattern rather than just treat symptoms, with follow-up images used to track real progress instead of relying only on how you feel each day.
Whether it is a runner from one of the College Station running groups or a Texas A&M club athlete trying to even out her hips, every patient goes through the same three-step process.
Take a club-level soccer player still sprinting on sun-baked ground in Bryan-College Station in August, whose hip has been catching for a few weeks. A short history and movement check specific to the sport, digital X-rays when needed, and a plain-language explanation of findings, no guesswork at any step.
Sometimes an adjustment feels great in the moment but does not hold. Real change in the nervous system takes more than one visit, and you deserve a way to measure progress instead of just hoping it feels good.
Early on, we take a digital X-ray here at the clinic for an objective look at your spine. Throughout care, we are looking for positive indicators: how long relief holds between visits, changes in how quickly your body settles during the Facilitate step, and whether follow-up X-rays show real change compared to your baseline. If a given condition is not responding as we expect, we will tell you that, and modify your care plan accordingly. We aren’t going to pretend otherwise. Throughout the course of your care, we will be constantly reassessing your condition with orthopedic tests, ROM, and joint play, so progress is something we can point to, not just something we hope you felt.
Care does not end once pain settles down. The goal throughout is getting you back to full training, competing, or just moving the way you want to, with a plan built around what your exam and follow-up findings actually show rather than a fixed number of visits.
Often, yes. The goal was never to sideline you completely, it is to help you move efficiently and perform with better control, not just make the pain go away. If your exam shows a joint isn’t tolerating load well, we’ll say so directly and may ask you to scale back specific movements for a stretch. But plenty of athletes keep training through care, with adjustments made along the way as their findings change.
No, you can call Dr. Levi Hansen’s office directly without a referral. Many College Station athletes come in on their own after noticing tightness or pain that stretching alone will not fix. We will take your history, examine you, and let you know if your case needs outside care first, like an orthopedic surgeon for a fracture or torn tendon. Most sports aches do not need that step.
Yes, moving or inconsistent pain is common and often points to a joint above or below the sore spot that has lost normal motion. We see this often in runners finishing long training blocks and athletes wrapping up fall sports season. Instead of chasing the sore area each visit, we track objective measurements like range of motion so you can see real progress, not just how you feel that day.
Yes, chronic tightness that stretching will not fix is usually a sign the hip or pelvis is not moving the way it should. We check pelvic and hip movement patterns because they directly affect discomfort in the knee, ankle, and foot. Rather than just working the tight muscle, we look for the restricted joint nearby that is forcing your hamstrings to overwork and guard.
Yes, recurring shoulder pinching in throwers, swimmers, and lifters usually means a nearby joint, often in the upper back or shoulder blade area, is not moving well. Your shoulder compensates by borrowing motion it was not built to provide. We commonly see this pattern in College Station athletes training through long seasons, and addressing the stiff joint tends to resolve the pinching better than only treating the shoulder itself.
Proudly serving College Station and Bryan, River of Life Chiropractic starts every visit with a real exam, not a guess. Ready to find out what’s actually going on?
Real feedback from the patients we’ve had the privilege to care for
College Station is home base, but patients regularly drive in from Bryan, Navasota, Caldwell, and Snook for care, most traveling somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes to get here. Within College Station itself, we see a lot of familiar faces from Pebble Creek, Indian Lakes, Southern Pointe, and the Castlegate and Castlerock communities.
Wherever you are driving in from, the visit looks the same: a real exam first, X-rays when they are actually needed, and a plan built around what your body is showing us, not a guess based on your zip code.
Contact us for expert chiropractic care in College Station, TX.
Monday: 9am – 1pm, & 3pm – 6pm
Tuesday: 3pm – 6pm
Wednesday: 9am – 1pm, & 3pm – 6pm
Thursday: 9am – 1pm, & 3pm – 6pm
Friday: 9am – 1pm, & 3pm – 6pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
