Studies Show Chiropractic Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We encounter a lot of sports injuries in our Tumwater office, and Dr. Harrell is often able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and below are injured each year when playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults hurt every year while participating in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the importance of minimizing these types of common injuries. One approach to possible realize that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive routine chiropractic treatments.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg injuries are common, often sidelining the players and impacting their team's likelihood of securing a win. One particular study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see how well chiropractic could diminish these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the volunteers got medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also engaged in chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 treatment per week for the first six weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one session each month for the final three months of the study. The other group were given no chiropractic intervention at all and were used as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic.

After twenty-four matches, scientists noted a reduced number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Additionally, that same group also missed fewer matches related to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic ought to be made an addition to sports training programs to dramatically lessen the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Harrell Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to make sure greater time is dedicated on the field versus on the sidelines, call our Tumwater office at (360) 489-0635 and make an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.