Is Chiropractic Safe?

We care for a large number of patients in our Fleming Island office, and Dr. Jon Paul Fritz has helped many people overcome a wide array of health problems. However, a common issue that seems to stop a lot of folks from getting 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 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 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to see if any unpleasant reactions were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors found that nobody reported any significant undesirable side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Large US Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second article(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic. 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 study participants.

Once 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 previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) 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

This third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the 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 appointments made for the young children, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were questioned, 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Fleming Island clinic and schedule an appointment today at (904) 425-9060.

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.