Studies Show Chiropractic Adjustments Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We encounter a large number of sports injuries in our Alexandria, KY clinic, and Dr. Michael Wagner D.C. is generally 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 every year while participating in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the necessity of minimizing these types of widespread injuries. One approach to possible achieve that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive routine chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are common, frequently sidelining the players and impacting their team's chance at winning. One particular study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic could reduce these injuries and help keep them in the game.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, all of the players was given medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also engaged in chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 session per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one session a month for the remaining 3 months of the study. The other group had no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and were used as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic.

Following 24 matches, scientists noticed a lessened amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Additionally, that very group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic should be added to sports training programs to dramatically decrease the number of leg injuries.

Dr. Michael Wagner D.C. Can Help People Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Faster

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 bench, call our Alexandria, KY office at (859) 448-0056 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.