My experience working as a Chiropractor at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

As many of my patients, and those who follow us on Instagram and Facebook know, I had the privilege of working as a chiropractor at the 2022 Commonwealth Games hosted in Birmingham. I was one of 20 chiropractors chosen to work alongside other medical professionals including GPs, physiotherapists, sport medicine doctors, sonographers and other allied health professionals. It just so happened, that quite a few of us on the medical team were also from Bristol. It was great to meet and work with local healthcare providers and build relationships amongst our different professions. It really highlighted to me how spoilt we are in Bristol to have such a great network of chiropractors, physiotherapists and sports therapists working in the area.

Working in the Polyclinic

I was based out of the NEC Athletes Village Polyclinic. The polyclinic was a purpose-built clinic which contained multiple treatment rooms, similar to what we have in Hanham. These were used predominantly by myself and the other chiropractors, physiotherapists and sports therapists. There were also rooms containing specialist equipment for optometry, GPs, dentistry, first aid, as well as a pharmacy and an imaging centre on site! The imaging centre contained an X-ray Suite, an ultrasound machine and we had access to a portable MRI scanner. Having recently qualified as a sonographer, I was quite keen to take any opportunity to work alongside some of the consultant radiographers. On the first weekend I was there (a week before the opening ceremony) we were a little quiet as it was the arrivals weekend for the athletes, so I was able to have some one- to one scan coaching. Throughout my time at the games, I had the opportunity to see so many different injuries through ultrasound. Under the guidance of multiple experienced consultant radiologists, I left having further increased my knowledge and skills as a sonographer, ones that I’ve been able to apply in day to day clinic already.

A range of healthcare facilities at your fingertips

Once the games started, the polyclinic was extremely busy so I spent all my time then on working as a chiropractor. My role was to assess and treat athletes from various Commonwealth countries. My treatments were not too dissimilar to what I do in day to day practice with a combination of soft tissue techniques such as Active Release Technique, massage, dry needling and spinal manipulation. Each athlete had to be initially assessed and a treatment plan created. The main difference between working in Hanham and the Games was the instant access we had to every type of healthcare professional and further testing. This meant we could work together as a multi-disciplinary team to provide the quickest and best treatment possible. An injured athlete entering the polyclinic would firstly be assessed by myself or another therapist and then, if required, walked across the corridor for an X-Ray, bloods or any other type of further tests to aid diagnosis. Within half an hour of entering the polyclinic the athlete would either be having treatment, picking up a prescription or having further discussions with the coach and medical team on what to do next. Decisions needed to be made quickly as a lot of injuries were picked up during practice or between events which would determine whether an athlete could continue to compete.

However, it wasn’t a constant flow of injuries that I was treating in the polyclinic; it was in-fact predominantly maintenance treatment for the athletes, to keep them feeling as optimal as possible. Athletes train all year round in preparation for these events and understand how important regular treatment is. Treatment is one aspect of recovery, alongside nutrition and sleep which are fundamental aspects of high performance and injury prevention- and many of them have chiropractors back home who they see regularly.
There were however, many countries that do not have access to healthcare in the way we do in the UK, and so for these athletes, it was an opportunity to be assessed and have access to what we can provide whilst they were at the games.

Athlete Facilities

The NEC village itself was a really fun place to work out of. It was where the athletes lived for the duration of the games and so it had a real buzz around the place. Athletes had access to a gym / S&C studio, pool, recovery centre (hot/cold pools), as well as games rooms and other places for down time. I hear their catering was also incredible – the only area I couldn’t really access unfortunately.

Overall, I had such a great experience at the Commonwealth Games. I have previously worked with GB athletes at home and at international events, but this was my first multi-sport event. I am so pleased that chiropractors like myself were included at the games, as we were able to support all the different nations. I certainly look forward to the next event that I get to work at!