How Safe is Chiropractic?

We care for a large number of people in our Buffalo office, and Dr. John Nowak has helped countless people overcome a wide array of health challenges. However, a frequent worry that seems to prevent a lot of people from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the issue), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each individual was suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic adjustments. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any undesirable side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The doctors reported that none of the patients documented any significant undesirable adverse reactions in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second article(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total side effects to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some individuals 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 Children

The third study(3) is different from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers investigated results 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 documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Buffalo clinic and make an appointment today at (716) 825-4121.

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.