Chiropractic Proven Safe

We tend to a large number of patients in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco office, and Dr. Stern has helped many people eliminate a wide array of health problems. Even so, one worry that seems to prevent a lot of folks from getting care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each participant reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The doctors found that none of the patients documented any significant unfavorable side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic is Safe

The next study(2), also released in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the researchers found no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total side effects to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, 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 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 Kids

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

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse 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 found to be safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Sunnyvale & San Francisco office and schedule an appointment today at (415) 308-7636.

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.