Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We tend to a large number of patients in our Silverdale clinic, and Dr. Findlay has helped many people eliminate a variety of health issues. Even so, a common concern that seems to prevent many people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each individual reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unfavorable reactions were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that no participants reported any significant negative side effects at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic is Safe

The next study(2), also published in the influential publication, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 Care Is Safe for Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the researchers investigated data 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 ones, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse 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 deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Silverdale clinic and schedule an appointment today at (360) 692-5350.

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.