As a chiropractor a large number of people start under care for one or two reasons which generally involve back pain, neck pain or headaches. And chiropractic has great success here but nine times out of ten these same people will notice other improvements in their health and quality of life. This all comes down to a better-functioning spine therefore better functioning nerve system and better functioning body!
The cool thing here is it doesn't matter if you’re young, old, male, female, active or inactive, these positive changes can be experienced. We frequently find that people shy away from exercise not because they don’t enjoy doing it but because of the aches and pains that follow, what if chiropractic could prevent that?
A study was completed in Australia, which looked into hamstring injuries in Australian Rules football players, the most common injury in the sport. Typically injury prevention of the hamstrings would focus on factors such as warming up, stretching/flexibility and fatigue, however, this study implemented chiropractic to investigate the effect of a non-local approach (particularly focusing on the pelvis and lumbar spine).
The study split 60 semi-elite Australian Rules players into two groups: one group received normal sports medicine care, the other received sports medicine plus chiropractic care. The experiment ran over one season and the participants were monitored over 32-weeks. The two groups were compared by the number of games missed during the season due to: 1. Lower limb muscle strain; 2. Hamstring Injuries; 3. Non-contact knee injuries. In the group that received chiropractic care, missed games for the respective categories were 4, 4, and 1. In the group that didn’t receive chiropractic care missed games for the respective categories were 21, 14 and 24.
The chiropractic care group had a statistically significant improvement in current and overall low back pain. Of significant note were the improvements the chiropractic group obtained in their general health status, specifically on the measures of body pain and general health.
This study shows the advantage of chiropractic care in a sporting environment and reinforces why spinal health is crucial in keeping your body working at its best.
If you want to keep active this summer or need that extra boost get in touch for your next adjustment!
Hoskins, W., & Pollard, H. (2010). 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(1). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-6