Studies Show Chiropractic Beneficial at Preventing Sports Injuries

We encounter a lot of sports injuries in our Yakima office, and Dr. Covington is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital states that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and below are hurt each year while playing sports. Add that to the nearly 2 million adults injured each year while participating in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these types of common injuries. One approach to possible realize that goal, according to a study released in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in routine chiropractic treatments.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the participants was given medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also were given chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 session per week for the first six weeks, biweekly treatments for the following three months, and one treatment a month for the final three months of the study. The remaining half were given no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic.

After 24 matches, specialists reported a reduced amount 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 conclude that chiropractic should be added to sports training programs to effectively reduce the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Covington Can Help Patients 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 versus on the sidelines, call our Yakima office at (509) 895-7535 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.