Is Chiropractic Safe?

We tend to a large number of patients in our Estero office, and Chiropractic Care & Rehab Center has helped many people overcome a wide array of health challenges. Even so, one issue that seems to prevent many women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see if any undesirable side effects were caused by the real chiropractic treatments.

The authors found that none of the patients reported any serious adverse side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second article(2), also released in the influential medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the researchers found no serious negative side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (16 out of every 1,000 treatment consultations and 15 out of every 1,000 treatment sessions) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused the researchers to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

This third study(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the authors investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse side effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Additionally, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Estero clinic and schedule an appointment today at (239) 495-1166.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.