How Safe is Chiropractic?

We tend to a large number of patients in our Arlington, WA clinic, and Dr. Ernst has helped many people overcome a variety of health problems. In spite of this, a common concern that seems to stop some people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, 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 included 183 men and women. Each test subject was affected by spine-related pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable reactions were caused by the real chiropractic adjustments.

The authors found that none of the patients reported any significant negative side effects at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic is Safe

The second study(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was performed in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger -- 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 experts determined the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 Adjustments are Safe for Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the researchers analyzed 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 children, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were surveyed, 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Arlington, WA office and schedule an appointment today at (360) 659-8464.

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.