Chiropractic Proven Safe

We care for a large number of patients in our Parkland office, and Dr. Scharf has helped countless people overcome a variety of health challenges. In spite of this, one worry that seems to stop many people from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of many 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 adults. Each individual was suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The authors reported that nobody documented any serious adverse side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second article(2), also published in the important publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test 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 study participants.

Once again, the experts found no serious adverse side effects. The authors computed the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted 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

This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, researchers analyzed results 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 young ones, chiropractors responding to the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Parkland office and schedule an appointment today at (954) 227-0088.

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.