Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We tend to a large number of people in our Chesapeake clinic, and Dr. David N. Block Family Chiropractic has helped many people overcome a variety of health issues. Even so, a frequent worry that seems to prevent some people from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate 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 article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person was affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments while the other half received two fake chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any unpleasant negative effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The authors found that none of the patients reported any serious negative side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The next study(2), also published in the influential medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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 Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, researchers 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Chesapeake clinic and schedule an appointment today at (757) 436-5428.

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.