Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We care for a large number of patients in our Asheville office, and Dr. Brent Myers has helped many people manage a variety of health challenges. Even so, a common issue that seems to stop a lot of people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable side effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic treatments.

The authors found that no one documented any significant unfavorable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

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

Again, the researchers found no serious adverse side effects. The authors 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 volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers investigated 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 answering the survey documented 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. 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 has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Asheville clinic and schedule an appointment today at (828) 676-0963.

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.