Usually when you think about the teams around professional athletes, you think about team physicians or physical trainers. However, increasingly, athletes are choosing to have a chiropractor on that team, as well. A 2021 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Chiropractic & Manual Therapies gives us a detailed look at exactly who these practitioners are and how they work.
The study was led by Luke Nelson and a team of researchers across Australia. It surveyed 154 sports chiropractors who held the International Chiropractic Sport Science Practitioner (ICSSP) qualification, the leading postgraduate credential in international sports chiropractic. The response rate was 64%, and the practitioners who responded came from every continent - North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, just to name a few. What emerged was a portrait of a discipline that looks quite different from the image that sometimes follows chiropractic care – there’s much more than “back-cracking” going on here.
A Multimodal Practice
One of the study's clearest findings is that these practitioners are not working from a single tool. 91% reported using a multimodal approach in most of their treatments. That means they performed spinal manipulation, but they also combined that with other techniques. Soft tissue therapy (used by 97%), mobilization, kinesiotaping, low-force techniques, and instrument-assisted soft tissue work were some of the most common. Rehabilitative exercises were prescribed in 76% of all visits. Ergonomic guidance came up in nearly 70% of consultations. These practitioners are using the entire toolbox, not just one tool.
This reflects something that chiropractors have been working to communicate more clearly in recent years: the work is about the whole neuromusculoskeletal system, not just the spine. Every single practitioner surveyed reported treating conditions outside of the spine. More than a third of their patients came in with a non-spinal musculoskeletal issue as their primary concern – chiropractors handle it all.
Athletes at Every Level
The study didn’t just focus on your every day athlete, instead focusing on athletes at the pinnacle of their sports. Almost 64% reported currently treating professional athletes, and 78% reported treating semi-professional athletes. Over the course of their careers, 91% had worked with professional athletes and 95% with semi-professional athletes. Nearly 40% were currently treating Olympic-level athletes, and 64% had done so at some point.
Chiropractic care has been offered inside Olympic Village since 2008. During the 2021 survey period, all 32 NFL teams had a chiropractor on staff. Athletes recognize the benefits of chiropractic care. And, the study is evidence of that. It reflects decades of athletes asking for, and in many cases insisting on access to chiropractic as part of their wellness routine.
Deeply Integrated, Not Isolated
What is remarkable about this study is that chiropractic practitioners aren’t working in isolation. They are often the starting point, and their relationships and expertise outside of chiropractic inform everything they do when it comes to patient care. Every respondent reported referring patients to other health providers. The most common referral destinations included orthopedic surgeons, massage therapists, general practitioners, and physiotherapists. 92% reported co-managing patients with other practitioners.
This actually serves people well: practitioners who understand the body's capacity to heal and who also know when another set of hands, or another kind of expertise, is what is needed. And this study paints a picture we are often told is “fringe.” Chiropractors often work with specialists outside of their discipline to manage patient care.
An Evidence-Engaged Field
The study captures something often overlooked in conversations about chiropractic: the practitioners' relationship to research. 96% reported regularly reading healthcare research, averaging about 2.5 hours per week. These are practitioners who are paying attention to what the literature says, even when, as the authors honestly note, translating research into clinical practice is not always straightforward. As people have taken a greater interest in their health, they’ve noticed that sometimes they are more current on research than their doctors are. That doesn’t seem to hold true for holistic wellness and chiropractic.
What This Means for You
If you have ever wondered whether chiropractic care extends beyond spinal adjustments, this study should help your concerns. If you are an athlete, or even someone whose body takes a physical toll from everyday life, a chiropractor may offer a kind of care that touches far more than your back.
The practitioners in this study are working alongside medical doctors and massage therapists and physical therapists. They are reading the research, prescribing exercise, and asking questions about nutrition. They are, in the fullest sense, part of a team.
That is the kind of care wisdm will help you find.
Read the full paper here
Nelson, L., Pollard, H., Ames, R., Jarosz, B., Garbutt, P., & Da Costa, C. (2021). A descriptive study of sports chiropractors with an International Chiropractic Sport Science Practitioner qualification: a cross-sectional survey. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 29(1), 51. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-021-00405-1
