Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We tend to a large number of people in our New York office, and Frank J. Valente, DC, PC has helped countless people manage a range of health issues. Even so, a frequent concern that seems to prevent many women and men from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the issue), the answer to this question 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 individual reported affected by spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any undesirable negative effects occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers reported that nobody reported any serious negative side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second study(2), also released in the influential publication, Spine, was performed in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 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 experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors determined the risk of total side effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) 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 Care Is Safe for Your Children

This third study(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, researchers investigated 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 documented 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our New York clinic and schedule an appointment today at (917) 338-7917.

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.