Research Shows Chiropractic Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We encounter a good deal of sports injuries in our Jacksonville and Fleming Island, FL clinic, and Select Health and Wellness is usually able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and below are injured each year when playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults hurt each 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 preventing these types of common injuries. One approach to possible achieve that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic treatments.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are commonplace, often sidelining the players and impacting their team's likelihood of securing a win. One specific study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see if chiropractic could reduce these injuries and help keep them in the game.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, all of the volunteers was given medical treatment. In addition, half of them also were given 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 3 months of the study. The remaining group were given no chiropractic intervention at all and were used as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic.

After 24 matches, scientists reported a reduced number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Furthermore, that very 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 effectively reduce the amount of leg injuries.

Select Health and Wellness Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Faster

If you or your child are active in sports and you would like to ensure greater time is dedicated on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Jacksonville and Fleming Island, FL office at (904) 425-9060 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.