How Safe Is Chiropractic Treatment?

We see a large number of people in our State College office, and Drs. Matt & Annie Reyes has helped countless people manage a wide array of health issues. However, one worry that seems to prevent many folks from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care 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!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each individual reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care whereas the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers reported that no participants documented any serious undesirable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Treatments are Safe

The next article(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic care. 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.

Again, the investigators found no serious adverse side effects. The experts 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 previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) 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 Is Safe for Kids

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, researchers analyzed data 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 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 deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our State College office and schedule an appointment today at (814) 308-9352.

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.