Studies Show Chiropractic Effective at Preventing Sports Injuries

We see a large number of sports injuries in our Harleysville clinic, and Dr. Szilagyi is often able to help these athletes. Stanford Childrens Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are hurt each year while playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults injured annually while taking part in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these types of widespread injuries. One way to possible achieve that goal, as reported by a study released in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic treatments.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Adjustments Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study particularly, every one of the volunteers was given medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also were given chiropractic treatments at the rate of one session each week for the first six weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one treatment per month for the last three months of the study. The remaining participants had no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic care.

Following 24 matches, researchers reported a reduced amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Additionally, that very group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic should be added to sports training programs to dramatically lessen the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Szilagyi Can Help People Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Get Better Faster

If you or your child plays sports and you want to make sure more time is dedicated on the field versus on the sidelines, call our Harleysville office at (215) 256-4345 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.