Is Chiropractic Safe?

We tend to a large number of people in our Mauldin clinic, and Dr. Izquierdo has helped many people eliminate a range of health problems. In spite of this, the primary issue that seems to stop some folks from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic treatments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that nobody documented any significant adverse side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

A second article(2), also released in the prestigious publication, Spine, was performed in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the researchers found no serious adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total negative 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 individuals did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this caused 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 Care Is Safe for Your Children

This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors investigated data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side 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 has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Mauldin office and schedule an appointment today at (864) 627-4325.

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.