Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We see a large number of people in our Waldorf, MD clinic, and Dr. Lipsitz has helped many people manage a wide array of health problems. Even so, the primary concern that seems to stop a lot of people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each individual reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care whereas the other half received two fake chiropractic treatments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.

The authors found that no participants documented any significant negative side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second article(2), also released in the influential publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the investigators found no serious negative side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total negative effects to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the authors to conclude that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Children

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. 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 children, 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 has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Waldorf, MD clinic and make an appointment today at (301) 645-8898.

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.