Research Shows Chiropractic Adjustments Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We see a good deal of sports injuries in our Henderson clinic, and Dr. Russell is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Childrens Hospital reports that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are hurt each year when playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults injured each year while participating in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these sorts of common injuries. One approach to possible achieve that goal, as reported by a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are common, often sidelining the players and impacting their team's chance at securing a win. One specific study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see if chiropractic therapy could diminish these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, every one of the players was given medical treatment. In addition, half of them also received chiropractic sessions at the rate of one session each week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly sessions for the following three months, and one treatment each month for the last 3 months of the study. The other half were given no chiropractic intervention at all and were used as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic adjustments.

After twenty-four matches, researchers noted a diminished amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Additionally, that same group also missed fewer matches correlated to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic ought to be added to sports training programs to effectively reduce the amount of leg injuries.

Dr. Russell Can Help Patients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Faster

If you or your child are active in sports and you would like to make sure greater time is dedicated on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Henderson office at (702) 990-2225 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.