Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We care for a large number of patients in our Springfield, MA office, and Dr. Michael Delson has helped many people manage a range of health problems. However, the primary concern that seems to prevent a lot of folks from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each individual reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any unpleasant reactions were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors found that no participants documented any significant adverse adverse reactions at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second study(2), also published in the prestigious publication, Spine, was done in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic care. 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 study participants.

Again, the experts found no serious adverse side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 Children

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

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the young children, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were negative side effects. 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 has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Springfield, MA clinic and schedule an appointment today at (413) 788-4464.

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.