Football and Disc Herniation: A Chiropractic Worry

It’s that time of year…football season!

As much as any other person enjoys football, your Oxford chiropractic physician does, too. Nevertheless, Satterwhite Chiropractic recognizes the stress and strain the sport has on its players’ spines. The stats about the NFL players injuries like disc herniations that cause back pain and neck pain are stunning. The stats about the college, high school and younger football players are, too. But the bottomline for us – football enthusiasts and the rest - is protect your spine in your game of life. (Watching football rather than playing it is probably a great choice for most of us!) Trust your Oxford chiropractor to examine your spine and set a healing treatment plan to get rid of any disc herniation related back pain you have.

Disc herniations in the NFL players are prevalent. Researchers gathered statistics over 12 football seasons. They recorded 275 disc herniations of which 76% were in the lumbar spine. Most of those were L5-S1 discs. And the offensive linemen - whose main role is to block - were not too surprisingly the most frequently injured players. (1) Tough position!

The location of the disc herniation affects the amount of time lost during the football season. Like our Oxford back pain patients who want to know "How long will it be until I feel better?" football players want to know, too. The players with lower back disc herniations missed more playing time (11 games). That’s more than half of the season! Players with mid-back (thoracic spine) disc herniations lost the most days overall. Cervical spine disc herniations kept players from missing the most practices. (1)

To say the least, disc herniations are a significant cause of injury in the NFL.

Now, are football players that different from the rest of us? Do disc herniations take us out of our games? Out of work and out of exercise and out of enjoying life? Yes, they do! So if you’ve ever wanted to be a football player, a disc herniation will give you something in common.

Football players or Oxford parents, weekend warriors, and workers can take heart: your Oxford chiropractic physician is at your service. The hands-on care you’ll receive at Satterwhite Chiropractic is effective for so many Oxford back pain and neck pain patients. So contact Satterwhite Chiropractic today about your disc herniation. We’ll examine you and set a treatment plan to get you back to your game!