Carolina Team Enjoys Going to See Chiropractor They Call Dr. Feelgood

The Carolina Panthers’ medical team includes three full-time trainers, two orthopedic surgeons, an internist, a dentist and an ophthalmologist.

The most popular man on the staff, however, may be the one the players call Dr. Feelgood.

He’s Eric Cerwin, the Panthers’ chiropractor. Carolina is one of a handful of NFL teams to use chiropractors, and judging from the comments of his patients, the Panthers made a wise choice.

“Eric’s a guy that a lot of people on this team look forward to seeing walk in the building on a regular basis,” wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad said. “He’s the real Dr. Feelgood. Sometimes there’s 20, 25 guys waiting in line for him at the training room.”

Those players have found that getting their spines, hips and other joints gently popped into alignment eases their minds about going out and violently jolting them back out of alignment.

“He’s been a benefit to a lot of guys,” kicker John Kasay said. “I think everybody understands and appreciates that the older you get, your body gets out of shape quicker. It’s harder to get it back into shape and you just have little aches and pains. And that’s where Eric comes in.”

Three days a week, Cerwin leaves his thriving Charlotte practice to tend to the Panthers. His list of patients includes about half the players on the 80-man roster, coach George Seifert and several front-office personnel.

The team and Cerwin have gained from the relationship.

“It’s improved my skills immensely working with a team of physicians and trainers,” Cerwin said. “We all learn from each other, but working with them has allowed me to really improve my diagnostic and treatment skills.”

Cerwin joined the Panthers when they came into the NFL in 1995 and works with the team on a contract basis. About one-third of the league’s 31 teams have similar arrangements, officials said.

Unlike most of the roughly 4,000 patients he has at his private practice, NFL players pose special challenges.

“The primary one is that these guys needed to be better yesterday,” Cerwin said. “Secondly, they’re out there every single day doing exactly what got them the injury in the first place. So it’s a challenge to overcome that, but on the other hand, they’re extremely motivated to get well, so that’s the upside.”

The players’ reasons for seeing Cerwin vary, but they mainly involve back and hip pain.

Muhammad, who set career-highs with 68 receptions for 941 yards last season, said he felt a cumulative effect from the constant pounding during three NFL seasons.

Muhammad had never seen a chiropractor before last season, but when his lower back kept getting more and more painful, he finally went to see Cerwin. An adjustment eliminated the pain, and the receiver has been making regular visits ever since.

“I go see him in the offseason, too. My wife’s even going to see him now. We love him,” Muhammad said. “Eric does more than just adjust people. He likes to give you knowledge about why he’s doing what he’s doing.”

It was that knowledge that helped gain the confidence of Kasay, a lifelong fitness fanatic who admits he was leery of whether chiropractic care could benefit him.

Kasay has made more than 79 percent of his field-goal attempts in his eight-year pro career, placing him in the top 10 of the NFL’s career accuracy list.

But the 29-year-old Kasay said he found that the unnatural motion of kicking a football was gradually making his lower back stiff as he got older, and it was getting harder for him to practice in the mornings.

Kasay knew several teammates were happy with the results of their visits to Cerwin, but he was still hesitant.

“I tried everything else,” he said. “I tried the hot tub. I tried stretching. I literally could not get the results I needed.”

Kasay decided to see if Cerwin could help him. Before Kasay got on the table, the best he could do was bend forward and touch his knee caps with his fingertips before the tightness prevented him from going lower.

Cerwin adjusted Kasay’s lower back and then his hips. When Kasay got off the table and bent forward, he was able to put his palms flat on the floor--without pain.

“It takes a lot to make me a believer. But that did,” Kasay said. “Every once in a while, I’ll get out of line with a lot of stress in the joints, and he helps. He really does.”

The players said they have been able to relate to Cerwin easier than many medical professionals because of his athletic background. Not only does the 39-year-old Cerwin lecture regularly on sports medicine, but he is a distance runner who routinely logs 30 miles a week and has competed in marathons.

“I’ve found that athletes are drawn to people who understand their mentality,” Cerwin said. “If you’re an athlete, athletes are more likely to be comfortable with you as a physician. They know you understand that you can’t tell an athlete to stop doing what they’re doing.”