The Treatment of Chronic Athletic Injuries of the Low Back and Lower Extremity Utilizing Manipulation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether spinal manipulation and/or lower extremity manipulation could be effective in a specific clinical situation -the treatment of chronically injured athletes. It was deemed important to set up a small pilot study that reflected exactly how a practitioner would deal with an injured athlete. Past trials of manipulation have been criticized because they did not resemble what actually occurs in a clinical situation. Participants were restricted to a few standard manipulations. They were not allowed to treat the participating patient as they normally would have(l).