Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of patients in our Jonesboro office, and Dr. Alpert has helped many people overcome a range of health issues. However, a common concern that seems to stop many women and men from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each individual was affected by spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that none of the patients documented any significant unfavorable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

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

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, unwanted 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 prompted the researchers 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 first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors analyzed data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the kids, chiropractors responding to the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Jonesboro clinic and make an appointment today at (770) 472-8989.

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.
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