Hamstring injuries are common in sports that require rapid acceleration and deceleration, cutting left and right, agility, and jumping. Many of our North Dallas patients ask if chiropractic care can reduce their risk of a hamstring injury. Hamstring injuries can include symptoms of sharp pain in the back thigh. When an injury occurs, you may experience swelling or tenderness within the first couple of hours. Hamstring injuries can also be very uncomfortable if you continue to try to utilize the muscle to walk.
In 2010 researchers studied Australian rules football players as hamstring injuries are their number one injury. Players were assigned to either a control group or an intervention group. The control group receives the best practice medical and sports science management. The intervention group receives the same care plus chiropractic manual therapy. Both groups received the same number of sessions.
At the close of the season, the researchers found that the group receiving the chiropractic injury intervention program reported significantly fewer primary lower-limb muscle strains and weeks missed due to no-contact knee injury than the other group. Though lower-limb injury prevention was the primary focus of this study, the players in the chiropractic group also experienced fewer episodes of back pain.
Chiropractors examine the whole patient in order to identify other issues that may contribute to the patient’s chief complaint. Chiropractic preventative care focuses on maintaining proper motion in the joints throughout the body. This can lead to a lower risk of injury such as the information in this study. If you are experiencing pain and discomfort in your hamstring, consider treatment from a chiropractor.
