Playing rugby day in and day out often means that your body takes a beating on the field. The high-impact, physical nature of the sport can lead to a variety of painful injuries that keep you sidelined—or even battling persistent on and off again pain in the long term.
Fortunately, chiropractic care offers a non-invasive, drug-free approach to not only alleviating pain from rugby injuries but also helping prevent them in the first place. By addressing misalignments, promoting proper healing, and optimizing your biomechanics and function, a skilled chiropractor can be your MVP in keeping you in the game. So, let’s explore this further; should you book a chiropractic care appointment?
5 Common Rugby Injuries
Rugby is a fun and incredibly physically demanding sport, but injuries are an ugly reality that most players face at some point or another. Here are five of the most common injuries seen in rugby.
1. Concussions
With all the tackling and collisions, concussions are one of the most prevalent rugby injuries. Symptoms can include headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and blurred vision. And with a concussion, proper rest is necessary to prevent long-term damage and prolonged issues. This means time away from the field is absolutely critical to ensure you don’t sideline yourself for good.
2. Shoulder Dislocations
The frequent tackling in rugby puts a lot of strain on the shoulders, sometimes causing the ball-and-socket joint to dislocate. This may cause severe pain, swelling, and inability to move the arm. The unfortunate truth of this type of injury? Dislocated shoulders often keep players out for multiple games. However, with the right treatment plan, you can get back in the action, without pain, in no time!
3. Hamstring Strains
Explosive sprinting and sudden direction changes make hamstring strains very common. A strained hamstring causes pain in the back of the thigh, especially when running or kicking. It can range from minor tightness to a severe tear that takes weeks to heal.
4. MCL/ACL Tears
All the side-to-side cutting motions put a lot of stress on the knees. The medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) stabilize the knee but can tear during awkward landings or collisions. And this doesn’t feel very good… An MCL or ACL tear causes significant knee pain, swelling, instability and often requires a long rehab process.
5. Ankle Sprains
Rugby players are constantly running, cutting, and getting tackled, which puts the ankles at high risk for rolling inward or outward, stretching or tearing the ligaments. Sprained ankles range from mild to severe, causing pain, swelling, bruising and difficulty bearing weight. Even minor sprains can hinder agility on the rugby pitch.
How Can Chiropractic Care Help You Get Back On The Rugby Field
Chiropractic care takes a holistic approach to helping rugby players recover from injury and get back to peak performance. Your Plano chiropractor will start with a comprehensive assessment to identify the root cause of your pain and dysfunction. This involves discussing your injury history, sport-specific needs, and recovery goals.
Guided by the findings from your inital assessment, your chiropractor will develop a personalized treatment plan to support healing and get you safely back on the field. This often includes spinal adjustments and decompression therapy. Gentle, targeted adjustments to the spine and extremities can relieve pain, reduce inflammation, restore joint mobility and proper alignment. Spinal decompression is especially helpful for disc-related pain or nerve impingement.
In addition to in-office therapies, your chiropractor will provide lifestyle tips to optimize the healing process. This can include advice on sleep positioning, workstation setup, nutrition, and how to carefully progress back into rugby training while rehabilitating your injury. The goal is to not only to help you recover, but to prevent future injuries and optimize your form and function on the rugby field.
At Keystone Chiropractic, we understand the passion rugby players have for their sport and the frustration that injuries bring. We’re here to help you get off the sidelines and back to the sport you love, as quickly and safely as possible. If rugby injuries have you benched, book your appointment online today. Let us help you get back to bringing your A-game on the rugby pitch!
