Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We tend to a large number of people in our Salem, OR office, and Dr. Julia Robertson has helped many people manage a wide array of health challenges. Even so, the primary concern that seems to stop many men and women from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each person reported affected by spine-related pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care whereas the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the real chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that nobody documented any serious unfavorable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

A second study(2), also released in the prestigious journal, Spine, was performed in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. 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 experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted the authors 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 Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers analyzed results 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 young ones, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 studies like these, chiropractic has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Salem, OR office and schedule an appointment today at (503) 399-7607.

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.