Studies Show Chiropractic Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

Studies Show Chiropractic Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We encounter a good deal of sports injuries in our Arlington clinic, and Dr. Ernst is usually able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital states that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are hurt each year when playing sports. Add that to the nearly 2 million adults injured each year while engaged in sports-related activities, according to statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these sorts of widespread injuries. One approach to potentially achieve 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 injuries are common, frequently 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 cut down on these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, every one of the volunteers was given medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also received chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 treatment each week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one treatment each month for the remaining three months of the study. The remaining participants were given no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic.

After 24 matches, researchers reported a diminished amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Furthermore, that same group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic ought to be made an addition to sports training programs to dramatically reduce the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Ernst Can Help Patients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to make sure more time is spent 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.