How Safe Is Chiropractic Therapy?

Arlington Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We help a large number of people in our Arlington clinic, and Dr. Ernst has helped countless people manage a variety of health problems. In spite of this, the primary concern that seems to prevent many women and men from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), 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 women and men. Each test subject was affected by spinal pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see if any undesirable side effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

Researchers found that nobody documented any serious adverse adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did state that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next research study(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was done in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The study 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.

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts determined 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 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 Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

This third study(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it focuses 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 children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse 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 has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic therapy can do for you, call our Arlington clinic and schedule an appointment today at (360) 659-8464.

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.