Is Chiropractic Safe?

We see a large number of people in our Salem clinic, and Dr. Robertson has helped many people manage a variety of health problems. However, the primary concern that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each individual was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the real chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors found that no participants documented any significant unfavorable side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did state that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next article(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was done in an effort to determine 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 patients.

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors computed 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, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted 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 Care Is Safe for Children

This third research paper(3) is different from the first two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the kids, chiropractors responding to 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 judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Salem clinic and make 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.