Research Shows Chiropractic Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We see a good deal of sports injuries in our Yakima clinic, and Dr. Covington is often able to assist these athletes. Stanford Childrens Hospital reports that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and below are hurt each year when playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults injured each year while taking part in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled 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 approach to possible realize that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive regular chiropractic treatments.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Therapy Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, every one of the players was given medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also were given chiropractic sessions at the rate of one treatment each week for the first six weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one treatment a month for the final 3 months of the study. The remaining half had no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic adjustments.

After twenty-four matches, researchers reported a lessened amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Furthermore, that very group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic ought to be added to sports training programs to effectively reduce the amount of leg injuries.

Dr. Covington Can Help Clients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Get Better 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 bench, 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.