Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of people in our Tumwater office, and Dr. Harrell has helped countless people overcome a range of health challenges. However, the primary concern that seems to prevent some women and men from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each test subject was affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care whereas the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unpleasant reactions were caused by the real chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that no participants reported any serious negative adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did state that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next article(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was done in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger -- 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 experts found no serious adverse side effects. The authors determined the risk of total side effects to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some volunteers 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 researchers 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 Your Children

This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, 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 visits made for the young children, chiropractors responding to the survey documented 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. 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 care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Tumwater clinic and schedule an appointment today at (360) 489-0635.

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.