Research Shows Chiropractic Adjustments Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We see a good deal of sports injuries in our Cary office, and Dr. Gugerli is usually able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are hurt each year while playing sports. Add that to the nearly 2 million adults hurt annually 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 minimizing these sorts of widespread injuries. One way to possible realize that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular 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 specific study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic could diminish these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, all of the participants received medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also engaged in chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 treatment each week for the first six weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one treatment each month for the remaining 3 months of the study. The other participants were given no chiropractic intervention at all and were used as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic.

After 24 matches, scientists noticed a diminished amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Moreover, 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 decrease the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Gugerli Can Help Patients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child are active in sports and you want to ensure greater time is spent on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Cary office at (919) 589-0909 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.