Do I have to stop training?

Usually not entirely. Complete rest is rarely the best answer — it deloads the injured tissue but also everything else, and you lose more than you gain. More often we modify: change the movement, reduce the load, keep training the parts that are fine, and rebuild the aggravating pattern deliberately.

How soon can I get back to sport?

That depends on the tissue and how long it has been irritable. Rather than give you a date on day one, we set a measurable marker — a range, a load, a movement you can do without provocation — and progress against it. That is a more honest answer and a safer one.

I keep getting the same injury. Why?

That is the most useful thing you can tell us. Recurrence usually means the tissue healed but the loading pattern that overloaded it did not change. Finding that pattern is the point of the assessment, and addressing it is what stops the cycle.

Do you treat non-spinal injuries?

Yes. We assess and treat peripheral joints as well as the spine — shoulders, hips, knees, ankles. Where an injury needs imaging, a surgical opinion or a different practitioner, we will say so.

What does the first visit involve, and what does it cost?

About 30 minutes with Dr Matthew Schmerl, chiropractor: a full history, an examination, and a clear explanation of what we found and your options. If it is safe and suits you, you can be treated on the day. Fees are shown when you book online, so you see the cost before you confirm. X-rays are charged separately and only taken when clinically indicated.

Will I be pressured into ongoing care?

No. After the assessment we explain what we found and your options, answer your questions, and you decide what is right for you. If chiropractic is not the right fit, we will tell you and suggest who to see.

Sports Chiropractor Brisbane | West End

Sports chiropractor in Brisbane

Same injury keeps coming back? The sore tissue is often not the whole story. A 30-minute Initial Assessment looks at how you move, finds what’s overloading it, and helps you keep training where it’s safe to.

30-minute Initial AssessmentDr Matthew Schmerl, chiropractor · 20+ years in practiceWest Village, West End · 2 hours free parkingMonday to Thursday, often same dayNo referral needed

Two kinds of sporting injury

There is the one that happened in an instant — a rolled ankle, a tackle, a hamstring that let go in the last ten minutes. And there is the one that arrived gradually and that you have been managing for months: the shoulder that aches after every session, the hip that tightens at kilometre eight, the back that complains the day after a heavy lift.

The first needs an accurate diagnosis and a sensible return-to-load plan. The second needs someone to work out what is actually driving it, because the sore tissue is often the symptom rather than the cause.

Why the same injury keeps coming back

Tissue heals. Loading patterns do not, unless something changes them.

If a hip is not extending properly, the low back tends to make up the difference. If a mid-back is stiff, the shoulder does more rotation than it was designed for. Neither of those compensations hurts at first: they just quietly load a structure beyond what it is built to tolerate, session after session, until it complains.

Treat only the complaining structure and you get relief, then recurrence. That is the pattern most people arrive here describing.

How we assess it

The examination looks at how you move, not just where you hurt: movement quality through the whole chain, what is restricted, what is weak, and which joints are compensating for which. Where segmental movement is the clinical question, objective range of motion measurement gives us a number to work against rather than an impression.

Then we tell you what we found, what we think is driving it, and how long it is reasonable to expect it to take.

What care might involve

Adjustment to restore movement where it has been lost, spinal or peripheral
Cold laser therapy for irritable soft tissue and tendon presentations
Rehabilitation in our purpose-built area — PowerPlate, Crossover Symmetry for shoulders, resistance and balance work — progressed as you earn it

Stabilise, strengthen, then perform. Loading a joint that is not yet stable is how people end up back where they started.

Training around it

Most people do not need to stop entirely. We would rather modify what you are doing than shut it down: keep training the parts that are fine, reduce the provocative load, and rebuild the aggravating pattern deliberately. Complete rest deloads the injury and everything else with it.

Common presentations from sport include low back pain, neck pain, sciatica and disc injuries from lifting.

Find out what’s driving it, and what your options are

A 30-minute Initial Assessment with Dr Matthew Schmerl, chiropractor: history, examination and a clear explanation of what we found. If chiropractic isn’t right for you, we’ll say so and suggest who to see.

Monday to Thursday, often the same day. We see a limited number of new patients each week so first visits aren’t rushed. Fees are shown when you book online. HICAPS on the spot, two hours free parking.