Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our Texarkana office, and Back Pain Chiropractic has helped countless people manage a range of health challenges. However, the primary concern that seems to stop a lot of folks from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each person reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The authors found that no participants documented any significant undesirable adverse reactions at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did state that they got a headache (9% of patients) 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 journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study 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.

Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The authors determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 6 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 (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

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, researchers analyzed 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 young ones, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Additionally, 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 found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Texarkana office and schedule an appointment today at (870) 774-0951.

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.