Effects of Lumbosacral Chiropractic on the Olympic Style Weightlifting Athletes
Condition: Athletic Injuries
MeSH terms: Athletic Injuries
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      It is known that low back injuries experienced by weightlifting athletes cause a decrease in
      performance. The effects of spinal manipulative therapy, which has been found to positively
      affect performance in various sports, are not known in the Olympic style weightlifting
      athletes. This study is aimed to investigate the effects of lumbosacral chiropractic spinal
      manipulative therapy on muscle strength, range of motion, balance, and pain in Olympic style
      weightlifting athletes.

      In this research, 40 male Olympic style weightlifting athletes are planned to take place.
      Male athletes will be randomly divided into two groups as a control and a treatment group. To
      the individuals in the treatment group; lumbal region chiropractic high-speed, low amplitude
      (High Velocity, Low amplitude: HVLA) spinal manipulation and sacroiliac joint chiropractic
      HVLA manipulation are planned to perform once a week for a total of three weeks. No
      manipulation will be made to individuals in the treatment group. Before and after the
      manipulation; the maximum isometric muscular force, the lumbar spine range of motion, balance
      performance and pain intensity will be evaluated by a back dynamometer, hand finger-ground
      distance test (HFGD), and Modified Schober test, flamingo balance test, and visual analog
      scale. SPPS 25 (IBM Corp. Released 2017. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0.
      Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) version will be used to analyze the data.
    

Detailed description: 
      There are studies in the literature regarding the positive effect of chiropractic treatment
      on musculoskeletal injuries. In a study, it is found that the group that received cervical
      chiropractic manipulation on judo athletes showed a statistically significant (p <0.05)
      increase in grip strength compared to those who received sham practice. In another study, it
      is found that a single lumbar spinal manipulation reduced the relative strength difference
      between the limbs for knee and hip flexion (p <0.05). In another study, it is shown that a
      single spinal manipulation session increased the muscle strength of the ankle plantar flexor
      muscles and corticospinal excitability (p <0.05) in elite Taekwondo athletes. Likewise,
      according to another study, lumbopelvic joint manipulation increased quadriceps activation
      and strength.

      A study claims that young female athletes with talocrural joint dysfunction showed a
      statistically significant (p <0.05) improvement in vertical jump height after chiropractic
      manipulation. In addition, in a study investigating the effect of pelvic manipulation on
      vertical jump height in female university students with functional leg length inequality, it
      was found that after the intervention, jump height improved significantly only in the pelvic
      manipulation group compared to pre-intervention height, while improvement in female
      university students with functional leg length inequality was found to be statistically
      significant (p <0.05) in both manipulation and stretching groups after the manipulation.

      A study showed that chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy can increase hip extension
      ability in young running athletes (p <0.05). According to a study conducted on football
      players, it was shown that combined manipulative interventions caused significantly (p <0.05)
      increases in the range of motion in the lumbar region and sacroiliac joint flexion. In
      addition, it was reported that the group who received chiropractic manipulation (compared to
      the group that received sham manipulation) caused a significant increase in kick speed (p
      <0.05) after the manipulation.

      Again, in another research, it is found that an increase in cervical range of motion and a
      decrease in neck pain with a single cervical HVLA (High Velocity, Low amplitude: HVLA)
      manipulation (p <0.05) and stated that HVLA manipulation was more effective than
      mobilization.
    

Intervention name(s): Chiropractic Manipulation
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Lumbar vertebrae and sacroiliac joints of the participants that have lost their normal joint motion will be detected by static and dynamic palpation techniques.
Lumbal Chiropractic HVLA Spinal Manipulation: HVLA manipulation will be applied in the left transverse process of the lumbar vertebra (mammillary process) of the participants whose problem is to the left of the lumbar vertebra.
Sacroiliac Chiropractic HVLA Manipulation: Participants who lost normal joint motion in the anterior and superior directions in the left sacroiliac joint will be treated with HVLA manipulation in the left PSIS (Posterior Superior Iliac Spine: PSIS). Participants who have lost normal joint motion in the left sacroiliac joint in the posterior and inferior directions will be applied HVLA manipulation in the left ischial tuberosity.
For both applications, it will be positioned in the opposite position for the problems on the right and the application will be made in the opposite position.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The individuals are randomly allocated into control and chiropractic groups.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Athletes; Balance; Muscle strenght; Musculoskeletal manipulations; Pain; Range of motion