Research Shows Chiropractic Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We see a many of sports injuries in our Great Falls office, and Dr. Six is often able to help these athletes. Stanford Childrens Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are injured each year when playing sports. Add that to the almost 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 begin to see the necessity of preventing these sorts of common injuries. One way to possible realize that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in routine chiropractic care.

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

Research Shows Chiropractic Therapy Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the participants was given medical treatment. In addition, half of them also were given chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 session per week for the first six weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one treatment each month for the final three months of the study. The other group were given no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic.

After 24 matches, specialists reported a lessened number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Additionally, 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 made an addition to sports training programs to dramatically lessen the number of leg injuries.

Dr. Six Can Help Patients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Heal Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you want to make sure greater time is dedicated on the field as opposed to on the bench, call our Great Falls office at (406) 452-6929 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.