News - Chiropractic
Sports Injury and Chiropractic
Research Article of the Month
April, 2010
Prepared by: Shane J. Lynch, D.C.
Hoskins W, Pollard H. 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 2010; 11:64.
Many people utilize chiropractic care for various musculoskeletal aches and pains. Typically chiropractors will recommend that patients continue under wellness/maintenance care once their acute problem is addressed to prevent reoccurring injuries by keeping the nervous system healthy. The research article presented this month provides evidence that chiropractic care can prevent back pain and sprain/strain injuries of the leg. Below are a couple key points.
Key points:
• “…a systematic review of the literature has stated that consideration should be given to the lumbar spine, sacroiliac and pelvic alignment and postural control mechanisms when managing hamstring injuries”.
• “The intervention group (received chiropractic care) was at a statistically significant reduced risk of suffering a primary lower limb muscle strain injury…The intervention group missed 4 matches with lower limb muscle strain and the control group (not receiving chiropractic care) 21 matches.”
• “The intervention group missed 1 match with a primary non-contact knee injury and the control group 24 matches, the difference being statistically significant”.
• “This RCT (randomized control trial) demonstrated that a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention provided at the semi-elite level of Australian Rules football…resulted in the prevention of primary lower limb muscle strain injuries…and primary non-contact knee injury. The addition of the intervention (chiropractic) was associated with a reduced number of matches missed due to primary non-contact knee injury…”
• “…reduction of LBP (low back pain) was observed along with improvements in some aspects of the physical component of the health status as measured by the SF-39 (in those receiving chiropractic care).”
• “Treatment was predominantly directed at non-local to hamstring areas, which supports the view that several non-local factors may potentially contribute to hamstring and lower limb injury occurrence, which may be addressed through multimodal and multi-disciplinary management”.
➢ This is a very important point because it provides evidence that chiropractic spinal adjustments have the ability to enhance the health of areas of the body not directly adjusted. In this study, chiropractic spinal adjustments resulted in a significantly reduced risk of athletes suffering a leg and/or knee injury.
