How Safe is Chiropractic?

We care for a large number of people in our Depew office, and Dr. Palmer has helped countless people manage a range of health challenges. However, one issue that seems to stop a lot of men and women from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each person reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any unfavorable side effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic treatments.

The doctors found that none of the patients reported any significant unfavorable adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did report that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The next study(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger -- 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people 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%), and this caused the authors to conclude that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Your Children

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

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were questioned, 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 deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Depew office and schedule an appointment today at (716) 668-2225.

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.