How Safe is Chiropractic?

We tend to a large number of patients in our Pinole clinic, and Dr. Jung has helped countless people eliminate a range of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to prevent a lot of folks from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the other half received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable reactions occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that no one reported any serious adverse adverse reactions at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The next research study(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was done in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the researchers 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 volunteers 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 out of every 100), and this caused 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 Is Safe for Kids

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, researchers analyzed data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were surveyed, 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 found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Pinole clinic and schedule an appointment today at (510) 243-7500.

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.