Jeffrey Grear, Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic, Foley

By Zeb Hargett

Life Needs An Edge!

When it comes to keeping your body tuned and in harmony, a chiropractor is often the answer. You don’t have to have an injury to precipitate a visit. Maybe you just need to align your Skeletal structure so that your body is working as it should, with fewer aches, pains, and discomfort.

I visited with Dr. Jeff Grear recently at his offices in Foley, Alabama to learn about the services he offers at Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic. It was an eye-opening experience. Jeff calls his specific technology “Body Synergy,” which means looking at the body working together to create the best outcome for the patient.

“Everything must be aligned, not just the spine,” he says. “Every structure needs to work in unison. When this happens, true healing can take place.” He tells me when you have a specific issue, the body focuses a lot of attention on that area of pain, but other areas are affected as well. 

Jeff calls this “referral” as the body compensates to adjust to the primary pain which creates other issues. “Other areas of your body, you may not realize, are keeping you from completely healing. My job is to evaluate your alignment and work to get everything working together as it should be.”

Opened on May 15, 2024, Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic is not just for athletes with issues. “Sports to me means active. Pickleball players and golfers may not consider themselves athletes, but they are active. We are taught to adjust people from 2 days old to 100 years old. Birth is the first traumatic experience a person has, both mother and child.”

He explains that even at birth,  baby muscles aren't strong enough to hold their head up. Throughout life, we deal with misalignment, whether microtrauma (more mental and emotional) or major physical trauma. Jeff prefers quality treatment over quantity. “From being a coach, I’ve always been straightforward in my assessment. I want people to get back to being active doing what they enjoy.”

A former athlete, Jeff was a first baseman and pitcher playing college baseball at Gordon College until he tore his Labrum. He then transferred to the University of Alabama and entered the Exercise Science undergraduate program and then earned his Masters in Human Performance (biomechanics). “I wanted to find out what happened to me, but more importantly, why my injury happened.” 

He tells me he had elbow surgery in high school that affected his other muscular structures. This led to his body compensating for the injury which led to a series of issues. “Injuries tend to slowly affect other areas of your body. We can help with that.” 

Jeff played golf as a kid but quit to focus on baseball. In his Junior year of college, he picked up golf again. The group he played with in Montgomery suggested he enter the World Long Drive Championship. He participated in the local and regional competitions and qualified for the Nationals with a first-place 424-yard drive. His longest drive in competition was 446 yards. “I competed for three years in Mesquite, Nevada before the main sponsor, Re/Max pulled out.”

After college, Jeff worked as a Strength and Conditioning Intern at the University of Alabama with the football, swimming, women’s rowing, and golf teams. He later became the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania for football, baseball, women’s soccer, and field hockey. From there, he became the full-time Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. Then COVID shut things down.

He decided to get his Doctor of Chiropractic at Sherman College in Spartanburg, SC. “There is a significant difference in the philosophy of chiropractic medicine, which translates into the body being able to heal itself. We are here to help the body when it can no longer adapt by itself. My sports experience allows me to look at a person’s everyday movement and understand what’s going on.”

At Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic, one size doesn’t fit all. Beginning with the assessment, it’s a much different experience. “We start with a Power Plate assessment. This is a vibration device that puts your body on an artificial uneven surface to fire the nervous system, rather than just the muscular system. This addresses balance issues, and assimilation, and relaxes the body for a better holistic assessment. That’s where we start.”

Next is a posture assessment. Standing up against a posture grid tells Jeff potentially what points your body is accommodating, which offsets issues. “Once I assess where the body is pulling and tugging, creating issues and problems, I can begin to address specific areas. I look at it from a biomechanical standpoint.”

Jeff says the casual active person, whether it’s playing golf, tennis, or pickleball, or just spending time playing with your grandchildren can trigger problems. “Whether you are a hairstylist, a doctor, or a nurse standing on your feet all day, or an executive sitting too long at a desk, or you’ve been to Disneyworld and walked all day long, problems can and do occur.” 

He says the body tends to seek out the easiest position to be in, not necessarily the most efficient.  “That creates issues over time and my job is to combat that by making sure your body is in harmony. I want to get you to a point of healthiness where a periodic maintenance assessment is all that’s needed.”

The first visit to Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic takes about an hour and includes time on the Powerplate, the Posture Grid, assessment and adjustment, and the PEMF (Pulse Electro Magnetic Field). The PEMF works to clear cellular waste, build bone, lower blood pressure, and ensure nerves are sending signals to the rest of the body efficiently. Follow-up visits last about 30 minutes.

As a former baseball player and long-drive golfer, Jeff says he’s now an 8 handicap. “Adjustment of the thoracic spine can improve any rotational aspect including tennis, golf, and pickleball, or swing speed and throwing speed in baseball.”

Life Needs an Edge is the tagline at Leading Edge Sports Chiropractic. “More than pain, your body needs to be in harmony. Everyone talks about having an edge. I’ve always wanted to help people gain that edge.” 

Thank you, Jeff. I enjoyed our visit and left with a much better understanding of how you approach your practice. I’m sure I will see you soon!