Research Shows Chiropractic Adjustments Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We come across a large number of sports injuries in our Arlington office, and Dr. Ernst is generally able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and younger are injured each year while playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults injured each year while participating in sports-related activities, according to statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the importance of preventing these types of widespread injuries. One way to possible realize that goal, according to a study released in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive regular chiropractic treatments.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are commonplace, frequently sidelining the players and impacting their team's odds of securing a win. One particular study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see how well chiropractic could cut down on these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the volunteers received medical treatment. In addition, half of them also engaged in chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 session per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly sessions for the following three months, and one treatment a month for the final three months of the study. The other group had no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic.

Following 24 matches, specialists reported a diminished number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Moreover, that very group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic ought to be added to sports training programs to effectively lessen the number of leg injuries.

Dr. Ernst Can Help People Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to make sure more time is dedicated on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Arlington office at (360) 659-8464 and schedule 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.