Local chiropractors supporting decathlete at Paris Olympics

Heather Graves

Staff

August 5, 2024

ANTIGO/MOSINEE – For the past five Olympics, Dr. Curt Draeger of Integrated Pain Solutions in Antigo and Mosinee has helped athletes be the best they can be through chiropractic care.

“I started (working with Olympic athletes) shortly before the 2004 Olympics,” he said. “Someone submitted my name to treat the U.S. Decathlon team. There were 30 of us chiropractors across the U.S. who were picked. I was one of the two that got to go to Athens, Greece, for the 2004 Olympics. Since then, it has been the relationships with the athletes and the coaches (that has allowed us) to continue to do it.”

Curt said he has supported athletes in the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021 Olympics.

And this year, he said, is no different.

Curt (62), who has been a chiropractor for 38 years, made his way to Paris to support Harrison Williams, a decathlete on Team USA, at the 2024 Olympics.

“We are honored to be part of Harrison Williams’ journey to the Paris Olympics,” he said. “Our goal is to provide the best care possible to help him achieve peak performance and reach new heights in his athletic career.”

A family affair

This year, Curt is being accompanied by his two sons – Jackson and Grant – who are also chiropractors. 

“It’s a dream come true to have both of my sons join me for my fifth Olympics,” he said. “The last six years, they both have been in training and learning all that I know for treating chronic pain and athletic injuries. But now, I find they can improve on the treatment protocols I’ve established with new and different techniques – I’m proud of that.”

Grant said he has fond memories of observing his dad treat Olympic athletes. 

“Growing up, I looked up to a lot of the Olympic athletes my dad treated,” he said. “I remember one particular summer when coach Harry Marra came to my parents’ house with five or six decathletes, and they set up a training camp there for a week. It was an amazing week. Me and my brothers were out there helping where we could – lifting weights with them and even challenging some of these world-class athletes to foot races. It was inspiring and is part of the reason I decided to become a chiropractor.”

Grant – who began working with his dad immediately after graduating from Northwestern Health Sciences University (the same school his dad and brother attended) – currently works with his dad at Integrated Pain Solutions.

Jackson said he worked with his father at Integrated Pain Solutions’ Green Bay location from 2017-21.

In 2021, he purchased the Green Bay clinic from his father, renamed it Midwest Pain Solutions and opened a second location in Appleton in 2023.

Jackson said he has been able to learn from and treat professional athletes alongside his father since 2017, and his brother since 2018.

Treating Olympic athletes with his dad and brother, he said, is something not many will ever be able to experience.

“I thank God every day for the ability to work alongside and learn from my dad,” he said. “He has taught me many amazing things in life, and I am thankful for that.”

Grant said he first started working with professional athletes in 2018 at the Thorpe Cup in Tennessee.

“I’ve been working professionally on decathletes and heptathletes alongside my dad, wife (a doctor of Chinese medicine) and brother now for the past six years,” he said.

Grant said about 10% of the chiropractic methods he uses today he learned in school.

“The other 90% are techniques I’ve learned from my dad – techniques he’s honed over the last 38 years of practice,” he said. “We continue to work at formulating new and better ways to treat our patients.”

Multi-focused approach

Jackson said there are many different injuries track and field athletes often have – including foot/ankle injuries, such as plantar fasciitis; joint pain; limited range of motion throughout the entire body; increased scar tissue from injury/past surgeries; and muscle strains.

The techniques he has developed over the years, Curt said, allow him to treat the chronic pain of his patients in Antigo and Mosinee and treat Olympic athletes.

In addition to providing advanced chiropractic treatments, he supports the recovery and performance of athletes through high-intensity laser therapy (HILT).

HILT, Jackson said, is a non-invasive treatment using specific wavelengths of light to accelerate the body’s natural healing process – showing “remarkable results in speeding up recovery.”

“The combination of high-intensity laser therapy and chiropractic adjustments allows the athletes to have increased range of motion – allowing for the mechanics of the body to be at maximum performance,” he said. “It also provides increased blood flow to the areas of injury, which in turn, allows decreased pain and inflammation in the body, allowing the body to heal and recover in shorter time frames – allowing athletes to compete at their top level.”

The laser, Curt said, heals inside the cell.

“It utilizes RNA and DNA repair,” he said. “Because chronic pain requires us to have the laser reach the damaged cells three to four inches below the surface, we had to develop a powerful, high-intensity laser to diffuse chronic pain. Most lasers only go a quarter-inch deep. This therapy (helps) athletes (because) it heals deeper tissues.”

Grant said HILT stimulates the mitochondria in damaged tissues, which “allows our athletes to recover 30-40% more quickly.”

With the heptathlon and decathlon, Grant said athletes are doing either seven or 10 events – “meaning they’re recruiting the use of every joint and muscle in their body.”

If these joints and muscles aren’t all working as intended, Grant said, that’s when injuries occur. 

“Our goal is to ensure their joints and muscles are all working in harmony,” he said. “If an injury occurs, our therapies help them recover.”

That has been the case, Grant said, with Williams.

“Harrison has had a few different injuries we’ve helped him with, both old and new,” he said. “It’s been fun to see him recover from them and go on to conquer the next meet. He continues to grow in his ability – we are glad to help his body do what his mind wants it to.”

Grant said the combination of therapies allows them to restore proper function in the joints and establish the healing needed to relieve pain – regardless of age or occupation.

“Pain is pain, and function is function,” he said. “No matter if you’re a 22-year-old athlete or a 68-year-old retired office worker.”

Team Williams

Curt said Williams came to them when they were treating athletes at the outdoor national championships two years ago in Eugene, Oregon.

“We built a connection with him, and he will fly in to get treatment at our facilities throughout the year,” he said.

Curt said he, Grant and Jackson treat Williams with various physical problems – “because as he competes in 10 different events, there’s always something that bothers him.”

“We also help him from a mental standpoint to help him realize what a great athlete he is,” he said. “The top athletes have little difference in abilities. It’s the ones who want it the most that succeed.”

Some of the other Olympic athletes Curt said he has worked with over the years include:

• Tom Pappas – world championship gold medalist in 2003
• Ashton Eaton – two-time world record holder and double gold medal winner at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics
• Bryan Clay – silver and gold medalist at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, respectively
• Trey Hardy – silver medalist in the 2012 Olympics

Those connections they have made over the years in the professional track and field arena, Curt said, have led to work in other professional sports – including football.

“It allows us to treat the Green Bay Packers because we’re close enough to the area (and have developed a strong reputation in professional sports),” he said. 

Over the years, Curt said it is the relationships they have built with the athletes that have meant the most.

“The best part of it has been developing the relationships with the athletes along the way, even after they’re done with the sport,” he said. “Getting to see them and their families grow is fun. I think of the athletes as family.”

Anytime heptathletes or decathletes need care, Curt said, “we fly them in, put them up in our home and take care of them as long as they need it.”

“They love the country setting,” he said.

Curt said he fondly remembers waiting at the finish line at the Olympic Trials in 2012 in Eugene with Ashton Eaton’s wife and mom in the pouring rain waiting for him to cross the finish line.

“Breaking the decathlon world record was emotional,” he said. “Being able to see him attain that goal after all his years of hard work was incredible.”