Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We tend to a large number of patients in our Gadsden clinic, and Gadsden Family Chiropractic has helped countless people eliminate a wide array of health problems. Even so, the primary concern that seems to stop a lot of women and men from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject was affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

The authors reported that no participants reported any serious adverse adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second study(2), also published in the prestigious publication, Spine, was conducted in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the researchers found no serious adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total side effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous 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%), 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 Is Safe for Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, researchers analyzed results 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse effects. When parents were questioned, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, 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 discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Gadsden office and schedule an appointment today at (256) 543-3033.

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.