Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of patients in our Cary clinic, and Dr. Thomas Gugerli has helped countless people overcome a wide array of health challenges. In spite of this, a common worry that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each person was affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see if any undesirable reactions occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that nobody reported any significant undesirable side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second article(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was conducted in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) 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 Care Is Safe for Kids

This third research paper(3) is different from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, researchers analyzed data 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 children, 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. 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 learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Cary clinic and schedule an appointment today at (919) 589-0909.

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.