Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our Henderson, NV clinic, and Dr. Russell and Dr. Janda has helped countless people eliminate a wide array of health problems. In spite of this, a frequent concern that seems to stop some people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

Researchers found that no participants documented any significant negative side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did report that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next article(2), also published in the influential medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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 Your Children

This third study(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the authors investigated results 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 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Henderson, NV clinic and schedule an appointment today at (702) 990-2225.

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.