Is Chiropractic Safe?

We tend to a large number of people in our Burke clinic, and Dr. Zapf has helped countless people eliminate a variety of health issues. Even so, one concern that seems to stop many people from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is 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 adults. Each participant was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unfavorable side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that no participants reported any serious undesirable adverse reactions whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic is Safe

A second article(2), also released in the prestigious publication, Spine, was done in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. The test 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.

Again, the researchers discovered no serious adverse side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total negative effects 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, unwanted 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 out of every 100), and this caused the researchers to determine 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

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, researchers analyzed data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported 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. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on studies like these, chiropractic has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Burke office and make an appointment today at (703) 455-9555.

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.