2025 Retrospective: A Reflection on 2025 Treatment Plans
What were the biggest takeaways from treating Nashville golfers in 2025? What were the most common injuries, pain patterns, and mobility limitations we saw? And how have we continued elevating the quality of care available to golfers in Middle Tennessee? Let’s break it down.
The Top 3 Treated Conditions in Nashville Golfers (2025)
1. Low Back Pain
Just like in 2024, low back pain remained the most common condition I treated in Nashville golfers. While the diagnosis itself varied—ranging from disc injuries, facet arthropathy, stenosis, muscle strain, and peripheral nerve entrapments—the primary complaint was consistently low back pain. Sometimes symptoms traveled into the glute, thigh, or calf; other times they were isolated to the low back.
The biggest takeaway? Movement comes first.
Movement quality must be restored before we can meaningfully improve pain, strength, or golf performance. This is one of the foundational principles we teach during every treatment plan. When key joints lose their ability to move—sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically—the body becomes vulnerable to a wide range of pain patterns and injuries. And while this certainly reduces golf performance and longevity, it also severely limits our ability to meaningfully reduce pain in the short term.
This is why pain-only treatment consistently falls short.
Soft tissue work, adjustments, and dry needling can feel good, but they don’t restore the missing movement that caused the issue.
Example:
A golfer with low back pain may have little to no lumbar flexion—a problem I see frequently. When the lumbar segments cannot move into flexion during tasks like a basic toe touch, and when spinal mobility testing reveals rigidity rather than natural segmental play, we know two things:
The proprioceptors in these spinal segments are starved of flexion input.
The extensor muscles are stuck in a hypertonic, spasmodic state, essentially locking the low back into extension.
When proprioceptors stop receiving feedback from certain planes of motion, the brain fills that silence with something else: pain signals. Meanwhile, the tight extensor muscles create compression and discomfort of their own. This becomes a cycle of chronic low back pain.
Dry needling or adjusting may provide temporary relief—but without restoring mobility, stability, and motor control, the spine remains locked in extension and unable to move into the flexion required for healthy loading. The surrounding joints and tissues will continue being forced to compensate.
2. Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain was the second most common complaint among Nashville golfers in 2025. The shoulder is critical for an efficient and powerful golf swing, yet also highly susceptible to strains, sprains, and re-aggravation of old injuries.
Just like with low back pain, we focus heavily on the functional limitations and the surrounding joints—not just the symptoms.
Two common contributors we found this year were:
Rib Cage Restriction
Though surprising to some golfers, rib cage mobility matters. The ribs must be able to expand and externally rotate before compressing and internally rotating. When golfers lose access to these motions, they fall into a chronically compressed state that limits:
Rib expansion
Shoulder blade movement
Shoulder joint mobility
The muscles surrounding the rib cage also tighten and compress the adjacent joints they attach to—including the scapula and shoulder.
Shoulder Blade Mobility + Stability
It’s not enough for the shoulder blade to move—we must also be able to stabilize it through key positions. Missing scapular mobility and stability was strongly associated with shoulder pain this year.
3. Knee Pain
Knee pain was the third most common issue we treated at Integrated Rehab and Performance Center in 2025. Golfers often considered this a secondary problem, but from a movement and performance standpoint, it is extremely important.
Even if a golfer doesn’t feel like knee pain affects their swing, mechanics tell a different story—it absolutely does.
The same foundational principles apply:
Movement quality comes first
We must look beyond the site of pain
A major contributor to knee pain is limited ankle mobility. When the knee cannot move forward over the ankle efficiently, compression and tension increase at the knee joint. The body then compensates by manipulating the position of the foot, ankle, knee, and even the hip. These compensations reduce efficiency and increase injury risk.
The hip also plays a crucial role. If a golfer cannot stabilize the hip, the knee is placed in poor positions and forced to absorb stress it shouldn’t have to manage.
Elevating the Quality of Care for Nashville Golfers
By prioritizing education, movement quality, and a whole-body approach, IRPC continues to offer a level of rehab and performance care that golfers simply cannot get from traditional PT, standard chiropractic care, or steroid-based interventions.
Our process is built on:
Comprehensive evaluations
Movement-based rehab
Data-driven decision making
Treatment plans tailored to every limiting factor—not just the obvious ones
This is how we consistently identify the root cause of chronic pain, restore movement, and improve golf performance in ways that “symptom-only” care cannot.
Conclusion
2025 reinforced something we’ve believed from the beginning at IRPC: golfers heal and perform best when treatment focuses on movement, not just pain. By taking the extra time to understand the whole body rather than just the painful area, we continue helping golfers return to pain-free play, increase longevity, and unlock higher levels of performance.
As we move into 2026, the mission stays the same—deliver the most comprehensive, movement-driven golf rehab and performance care in Nashville. Because when golfers move better, they play better. And when they play better, the game becomes more fun for years to come.
-Dr. Nick DC, MS, TPI, CSCS
If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.
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