We tend to a large number of patients in our Saint Paul, MN office, and Robert C Slater, DC has helped many people eliminate a range of health problems. However, a frequent worry that seems to stop some men and women from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study
The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 adults. Each participant was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unfavorable side effects were caused by the real chiropractic adjustments.
Researchers reported that no one documented any serious adverse side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe
The second study(2), also released in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Once again, the investigators discovered no serious adverse side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six 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%), 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 Adjustments are Safe for Your Children
The 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 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 young ones, chiropractors responding to 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Saint Paul, MN clinic and make an appointment today at (651) 699-3366.
References
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
