Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our Tucson office, and Dr. Conlee has helped many people manage a variety of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent concern that seems to prevent some folks from getting care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each test subject was affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see if any unpleasant reactions were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors found that none of the patients documented any significant unfavorable side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did state that they had a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic is Safe

The next study(2), also published in the important journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted 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 concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, 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 children, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were negative 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Tucson office and make an appointment today at (520) 322-6161.

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.