Injured Playing Football? Get Help from a Sports Medicine Treatment Center

Football season is now in full swing, which in the U.S. means 1.5 million men and boys out on the gridiron. Because football is a contact sport, it frequently results in injury, with up to 1.2 million injuries sustained every year.

If you sustain an injury mid-season, it can be detrimental to your career and potentially to your team, especially with playoffs right around the corner. You want to do everything you can to get back in the game as soon as possible, and good chiropractic care can help you to recover from injuries faster.

Below we’re going to talk about several common football injuries and how chiropractic care can help you recover.

Knee injuries

Around 50% of football injuries are to the lower extremities, with knee injuries being most common. Four major ligaments support the knee, which can easily be damaged while playing football. Bruising to the bone or damage to the cartilage may also occur. Knee injuries during football may happen as a result of improper warm up procedures, from running too hard, or from blows or twists to the knees.

A chiropractor can help with knee injury rehabilitation. The treatment will depend upon the type of injury sustained, but common treatments include soft tissue massage to improve the knee’s range of motion, and potentially chiropractic manipulation of the knee and surrounding joints. Ultrasound therapy may also promote soft tissue healing.

Sprains and strains

Sprains occur when the ligaments supporting the bones are over-stretched or torn, usually in a fall or from being twisted. The most common joints to sustain sprain injuries are ankles and wrists. Strains occur when a muscle or tendon is stretched or torn from being pulled too far or twisted. Strains most commonly occur in the back, hamstrings and groin.

Most sprains and strains heal on their own with rest. However, this means that you’ll be kept out of the game for some time. A chiropractor can help your strain or sprain heal faster using techniques such as soft tissue massage, hydrotherapy, and ultrasound. Additionally, he or she can also help restore the range of motion to the injured area with in-office therapies and/or by prescribing a series of at-home exercises.

Fractures

A bone can become fractured from a one-time impact, which is common in contact sports such as football. It can also become fractured from repeated small impacts over time, known as a stress fracture.

Fractures will first need to be treated by a doctor, and may even require emergency treatment. However, a chiropractor can help you get back in the game faster after recovering from a fracture by helping to restore the range of motion to the injured area.

Dislocations

Joint dislocations are common in contact sports such as football, often occurring when players are tackled. In a dislocation injury, the bone and joint become separated. The most common dislocation is a shoulder dislocation. Elbow and knee dislocations also commonly occur.

The joint will need to be put back into place, and in the case of a shoulder dislocation you may need to wear a sling to allow the area to heal. Chiropractic rehabilitation can help the soft tissue surrounding the joint to heal, and can help restore the range of motion more quickly.

Herniated Discs

Contact sports such as football involve impact with other players and frequent falls, placing a large amount of pressure on the back. Over time or through an acute injury, this can lead to a herniated disc.

The discs serve as protective shock-absorbing pads between the spinal vertebrae. Upon injury or after repeated stress, a disc may bulge, split or rupture, allowing the inner gel portion of the disc to escape into the surrounding tissue. This can irritate the adjacent nerves, leading to pain, numbness or weakness in the arm or leg.

Luckily, a chiropractor can use chiropractic manipulation therapy and intersegmental traction to realign the vertebrae, helping the herniated disc to slide back into place. Your chiropractor can also prescribe a series of at-home exercises to help realign your spine and restore range of motion to the injured area.

Achilles Tendinitis

The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body, connecting the calf muscles to the heel bone. With repeated stress from running and jumping, the Achilles tendon can develop small tears and lacerations and become inflamed. This condition is known as tendinitis, and can be debilitating if left untreated.

Your chiropractor can treat tendinitis using hydrotherapy and ultrasound therapy, helping the tissue to heal. Treatments to reduce the inflammation, such as icing and anti-inflammatory medications, can also be helpful.

About the Author:

Dr. Singer has been a practicing chiropractor for more than 20 years, and USA Health & Therapy has been around since 2004. Over the course of his career, Singer has helped tens of thousands of people with all kinds of issues by using a wide variety of treatment strategies. He has extensive knowledge of chiropractic modalities, including Gonstead, Diversified, Thompson Drop Table, and Activator, and in 1997 he earned a special adjunctive Chiropractic Certification in Spinal Trauma (CCST) to better provide care for car crash victims. Dr. Singer is licensed to practice chiropractic medicine in both Florida and New York.