How Safe is Chiropractic?

We see a large number of people in our South Buffalo office, and Dr. Nowak has helped countless people eliminate a wide array of health problems. However, one concern that seems to prevent many folks from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each test subject reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see if any undesirable side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The authors reported that no participants documented any serious negative side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second article(2), also released in the influential medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts found no serious adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, 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%), 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 Kids

This third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, researchers investigated 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 answering the survey documented only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were questioned, 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 judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our South Buffalo office 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.