Studies Confirm that Chiropractic Treatment Is Safe

We help a large number of patients in our Decatur office, and Dr. Harrison has helped countless people eliminate a wide array of health challenges. However, a common worry that seems to stop some men and women from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each person reported suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that none of the patients reported any serious negative side effects at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Treatments are Safe

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

Once again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors computed the risk of total side 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 people did report non-serious, milder, side 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 researchers to conclude 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 unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers analyzed data 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 children, chiropractors responding to the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Decatur office and make an appointment today at (404) 325-2856.

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.