Performance Chiropractic and Sports Center certified for accident victims
PERFORMANCE CHIROPRACTIC and Sports Care is located at 2555 Greenwood Lane in Cameron Park.
Physician, heal thyself … and that’s just what Dr. Yong Kim did, after a fashion.
When Kim, owner of Performance Chiropractic and Sports Center in Cameron Park, was a teenager he suffered chronic back pain following numerous vehicle accidents and sports injuries. Add poor posture to the mix, and soon Kim was the victim of sciatica that radiated pain to his lower back, buttocks and leg. Physical therapy did little to alleviate the sometimes excruciating sciatica.
At age 16 he began regular workouts at a gym, where he managed to reduce the pain symptoms somewhat, but the real help came in the form of a chiropractor who noticed Kim’s workout technique reflected that something was wrong.
“The chiropractor took me to his clinic and treated me,” Kim said. “After several weeks of treatment, I felt 100 percent better.”
A week later, Kim decided to pursue becoming a chiropractor himself.
The result: Performance Chiropractic.
Following Kim’s undergraduate studies at San Jose State University, he completed his doctoral studies in chiropractic at Life Chiropractic College West. During his internship, Kim was one of the few elected clinicians named an Honors Intern and an Intern Supervisor to help other interns manage and care for approximately 1,000 patients per week.
Kim has more than a decade of experience in the chiropractic field, and furthered his knowledge in the practice that changed his life for the better with specialty training in neurology.
In 2000 Kim became certified to treat injuries associated with vehicle accidents, and he also is qualified to testify in court as an expert in that area. “I have successfully treated many auto injuries where prior medical and chiropractic care did not,” he said.
One of his areas of expertise is that of Active Release Techniques, a practice that has been applied by Kim in treating patients in professional sports, including members of national basketball, football and baseball teams. Ironman athletes also have benefited from Kim’s skills. The chiropractor in 2006 was certified as a Chiropractic Sports Practitioner by the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians.
Kim volunteers his bountiful knowledge as well, helping out local high school athletes.
An athlete himself, Kim said he believes in keeping an active lifestyle and, again, practices what he preaches. He played competitive league baseball from elementary through high school and he also has experience in Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu. Today he enjoys weight training, cycling, racquetball, snow skiing and chasing his two dogs around.
The Active Release Techniques employed and praised by Kim involve diagnosing and treating the underlying causes of cumulative trauma disorders, including such conditions as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, rotator cuff syndrome and others in which scar tissue is formed as the body tries to heal itself following repetitive stress injury. The scar tissue contracts over time, impacting the use of involved muscles, leading to pain, stiffness and a decreased range of motion. Soft tissue dysfunction often is written off by the sufferer as the result of “just getting old,” but that often is not the case and the condition can be alleviated and even restored to normalcy, according to Kim.
“Active Release separates, releases and stretches the connective tissue adhesions, restores vascular and lymph circulation and increases your range of motion, flexibility and strength,” he said. “The treatments can be a bit uncomfortable, or even a little painful, but this pain is an important indicator that the problem has been located and signals that the treatments are correcting the injury. Patients often report that ‘it hurts good.’”
The Cameron Park chiropractor said those injured in accidents or as a result of “weekend warrior” activities can benefit greatly from the ART treatments.
Performance Chiropractic and Sports Care is located at 2555 Greenwood Lane, Cameron Park. Call
530-677-7333.
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