Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our New York office, and Dr. Valente has helped countless people manage a variety of health challenges. However, the primary issue that seems to prevent a lot of people from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unpleasant reactions occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

The doctors found that none of the patients documented any significant negative adverse reactions in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second article(2), also published in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was performed in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic care. 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 study participants.

Once again, the investigators discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total side effects to be about six 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 (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this caused 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 Kids

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the authors 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 young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our New York office 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.