Chiropractic usage by intercollegiate athletes

It's estimated that more than one-third of the American public uses the services of doctors of chiropractic and other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers each year. Among those who take full advantage of CAM's benefits are professional athletes; in fact, many pro sports teams now have chiropractors and other CAM providers as part of their medical or training staff. A new study shows that chiropractic and other types of CAM are extremely popular among athletes on the college level as well.

In this study, researchers gave a survey to more than 300 college athletes attending a Division I school in Hawaii. The survey asked the athletes about their use of different types of CAM in the previous year, along with their use of traditional medical care. Fifty-six percent of the athletes reported using some type of CAM within the past 12 months, with more women using CAM than men. Chiropractic was the second most popular form of CAM, just behind massage; 29 percent of the athletes said they had used chiropractic at least once in the past year.

While considerable evidence suggests chiropractic can improve the performance of elite athletes, there's just as much evidence which shows chiropractic care is effective for a variety of everyday problems, too. Back pain, neck pain and migraine headaches are just a few of the many conditions that can be treated by a well-trained doctor of chiropractic.

Source: Nichols AW, Harrigan R. Complementary and alternative medicine usage by intercollegiate athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine May 2006;16(3):232-7.

Dr. David Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, MD
Laurel Regional Chiropractic

Study shows that Cold Laser Therapy helps Chronic Neck Pain Sufferers

A new Australian study appeared in the journal Lancet shows that using cold laser therapy to treat chronic neck pain can be very effective.

Low-level laser therapy, also known as LLLT involves using a laser's light to stimulate tissue repair and ease pain. Lead researcher Roberta Chow of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Australia's University of Sydney carried out an overview of 16 randomized trials that put this increasingly popular procedure to the test. 820patients were enrolled in the trials and divided into two groups: one that received either the therapy or other one that received a dummy treatment.

In five trials, the researchers found that patients given LLLT were around four times more likely to have reduced pain compared with a placebo. In the 11 other trials, for which there was a detailed analysis of pain symptoms, LLLT patients reported reductions of chronic pain by around 20 points on a scale of 100 points. The pain reduction continued for up to 22 weeks.

LLLT compares favorably with other drugs and remedies for effectiveness and its side-effects are mild, says the study. The researchers further suggested that low level laser therapy be used in combination with an exercise program for neck pain as well.

Original article: Chow RT, Johnson MI, Lopes-Martins RA, Bjordal JM. “Efficacy of low-level laser therapy in the management of neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo or active-treatment controlled trials.” Lancet. 2009 Dec 5;374(9705):1897-908.

Dr. David P. Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, Maryland
Laurel Regional Chiropractic
http://www.laurelregionalchiropractic.com/