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Chiropractic Neck Adjustment Safety

Skeptics and naysayers of chiropractic care often point out the incidence of stroke that occurs as a result of cervical spine (neck) adjustments.

And…even those who think that chiropractic may be helpful for back pain may refuse to allow their chiropractor to go anywhere near their necks. Too bad. It simply fuels the rumors and misinformation, spreading like wildfire. These alarmists rarely stop to investigate the false claims and innuendo.

It’s just not true! Here are the facts:

1. A significant number of research studies conducted in Switzerland, Canada, Holland, Denmark, and the U.S., conclude that the incidence of a stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), occurring as a result of a neck adjustment is estimated to be one-half to two cases per million!

2. If you drive approximately eight miles (13 km) each way to get to our office, statistically, you have a far greater chance of being seriously injured driving than from receiving a neck adjustment!

3. Malpractice insurance rates for chiropractors are among the lowest of all the health professions. A fraction of what medical practitioners must pay.

4. An article that appeared in the February 2002 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American College of Physicians stated, "No serious complication has been noted in more than 73 controlled clinical trials or in any prospectively evaluated case series to date."

5. The Canadian Chiropractic Association website states that the risk of stroke resulting from neck adjustment is “considerably lower than those serious adverse events associated with many common health treatments such as long-term use of non-prescription pain relievers or birth control pills.”

6. And the most recent and significant study published in the journal Spine observes, "...there is no increased risk related to chiropractic treatment in the heated debate about whether neck adjustments can trigger a rare type of stroke. Researchers say patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following a visit to a chiropractor than they would after stepping into their family doctor's office."

Hopefully, this clears up some of the rampant misinformation regarding chiropractic neck adjustment and the incidence of stroke. If you have any questions, please, ask them on your next visit.