We care for a large number of people in our South Buffalo office, and Dr. Nowak has helped countless people overcome a range of health issues. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to stop many women and men from getting care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the topic), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe
The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each individual was affected by spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant reactions occurred as a result of the real chiropractic adjustments.
The doctors found that no one reported any serious adverse side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.
National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe
The next research study(2), also released in the prestigious medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish 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.
Once again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total negative effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some people 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 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 Treatments are Safe for Kids
This 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 article, the authors 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 young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported 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. 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 care can do for you, call our South Buffalo clinic and make an appointment today at (716) 825-4121.
References
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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