Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of patients in our Springfield office, and Dr. Delson has helped many people manage a wide array of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to stop some folks from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject was suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the other half received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unpleasant negative effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic treatments.

The doctors reported that no participants reported any significant adverse adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second study(2), also released in the prestigious publication, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the researchers found no serious negative side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately six 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, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted 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 previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, researchers analyzed 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 kids, chiropractors responding to 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. 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 discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Springfield office and schedule an appointment today at (413) 788-4464.

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.