Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of patients in our Cary clinic, and Dr. Gugerli has helped countless people overcome a range of health issues. However, one issue that seems to stop a lot of people from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any unpleasant side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers reported that none of the patients reported any serious undesirable adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Large US Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second study(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The study 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 researchers found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total negative effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (16 out of every 1,000 treatment consultations and 15 out of every 1,000 treatment sessions) 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 Is Safe for Your Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers analyzed 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 children, chiropractors answering 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. 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 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.