Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We see a large number of patients in our Texarkana, Atlanta clinic, and Dr. Swanson has helped many people manage a wide array of health issues. However, a common issue that seems to stop many women and men from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of many on the issue), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the real chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers reported that nobody documented any significant unfavorable adverse reactions at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did state that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

A second research study(2), also published in the distinguished publication, Spine, was done in an effort to determine 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 neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the experts found no serious adverse side effects. The experts computed the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous 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 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 Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

The third study(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, researchers investigated results 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 children, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse side effects. 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 judged safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Texarkana, Atlanta office and schedule an appointment today at (903) 792-2060.

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.