Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA clinic, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has helped countless people manage a variety of health problems. However, the primary concern that seems to stop many women and men from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this question is a resounding: "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 individual reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.

Researchers found that no one documented any serious unfavorable side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The second study(2), also published in the important medical journal, Spine, was performed in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious adverse 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. 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 out of every 100), 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 Care 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 article, the researchers analyzed 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were surveyed, 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA clinic and make an appointment today at (781) 460-0939.

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.