DURBIN, South Africa -- Scorching heat, pumping surf, and all the action you could wish for. It was all happening at North Beach, where the annual Gunston 500 International Surfing Championships is held every July.
The 1997 event was different in that Ocean Action (the premier organizing committee) invited the Technikon Natal Chiropractic Student's Sport Association to attend to the medical needs of the competitors. The treatments ranged from basic first aid to full chiropractic adjustments.
Ocean Action is a festival that offers a unique range of competitive and spectator sports. The Gunston 500 is a prestigious surfing championship that is a major drawing card on the international pro-surfing circuit. The Longboard Championships are surfed concurrently, and for those who want to hang 10, it all happens between the next set of piers just south of North Beach. The Kahlua Night Surfing Classic kicks off under flood lights at North Beach as soon as the sun has set. Bright coloured wetsuits become luminous under the fluorescent flood lights, and the action goes from thrilling to nail-biting intensity as the competitors wait their chance for the big wave.
Big "barrels" and the occasional "tube" set the scene for incredible surfing action, with many radical maneuvers and spectacular wipeouts. With the wave face at times reaching 6-8 feet, there was plenty of opportunity for injury.
Besides the surfing, the festival features one of the largest beach volleyball tournaments in South Africa, and the Alpha Strongman competition. The true grit, grimaces and heavy grunting of these "huge machines" that carry, lift, throw and pull unbelievable tonnages kept the chiropractors busy with warm-ups, strapping and the occasional remonstrance of "Bend the knees when you lift."
The students from the Technikon Natal Chiropractic School worked with the athletes for seven days, recording 201 treatments in a variety of sports, age groups and to both men and women. They assisted the athletes with warming up, stretching techniques, sports message, athletic strapping, cryotherapy, spinal and extremity manipulations.
The surfing events provide opportunities to treat ankle sprains, myofascitis, cuts, contusions, over-use syndromes, especially of the shoulders, and numerous fixations. The competitors were well educated about chiropractic, as many of them were from the U.S. and Australia, where chiropractic care is a popular choice. Three beds were available per event, and at any one time there were queues waiting for treatments.
The volleyball presented us with a hugh variety of shoulder and cervical complaints, ranging from sprains and strains, to tendon and ligament injuries, and even a lower extremity fracture.
Surprisingly, the strongman competition did not produce as many injuries as expected, although they kept us busy.
It was a great experience to take the clinical aspects of chiropractic out of the classroom and to the patients. "Hands on" is definitely a lot better than "books open." It's amazing how the biomechanical principles of a pathology can be so hard to learn from a text, but all it takes is one patient with the problem to make sure you never forget.
Supervising clinicians were on duty to provide assistance and guidance where needed, and they enjoyed the change from their air³conditioned offices. Students from all years, addressed their patients with enthusiasm and professionalism that did the profession proud.
At the end of the day we all went home exhausted, but the feeling of satisfaction with a job well done was unbeatable. Sun, sand and surf ... it's a hard life in Africa.
Debbie Thompson
6th year chiropractic student
Executive Council
Chiropractic Student Sports Association
Brian Nook, DC, DACBSP, FICC
Lecturer, Technikon Natal
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