Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of patients in our San Francisco office, and Thriving Life Wellness Center has helped many people eliminate a wide array of health challenges. However, the primary concern that seems to prevent some people from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each test subject reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unpleasant reactions occurred as a result of the real chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that no participants reported any serious undesirable adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The next article(2), also published in the prestigious journal, Spine, was performed in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. 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 experts found no serious negative side effects. The experts 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 volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted 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 study(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young children, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were questioned, 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our San Francisco office and make an appointment today at (415) 814-2442.

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.