Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We care for a large number of people in our Roselle office, and Dr. Ahmed has helped countless people overcome a range of health problems. In spite of this, a common issue that seems to prevent many folks from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three separate 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 study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each individual was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that no participants reported any serious unfavorable adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The second study(2), also published in the prestigious medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors determined the risk of total negative effects to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Care Is Safe for Your Children

The third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the authors 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 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. Additionally, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on studies like these, chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Roselle office and make an appointment today at (630) 295-8851.

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.