Research Shows Chiropractic Care Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We come across a good deal of sports injuries in our Decatur clinic, and Dr. Harrison is often able to help these athletes. Stanford Childrens Hospital states that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and below are injured each year while playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults injured each year while taking part in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the necessity of minimizing these sorts of common injuries. One approach to potentially 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 odds of securing a win. One particular study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic adjustments could reduce these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Supports Chiropractic Care Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the players received medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also received chiropractic sessions at the rate of one treatment per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one treatment per month for the remaining three months of the study. The remaining participants had no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic care.

Following 24 matches, researchers noted a reduced amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Moreover, 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 added to sports training programs to effectively reduce the number of leg injuries.

Dr. Harrison Can Help Clients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Heal Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to ensure more time is dedicated on the field versus on the sidelines, call our Decatur office at (404) 325-2856 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.