Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We tend to a large number of patients in our Parkland, FL clinic, and Dr. Neil Scharf has helped countless people eliminate a range of health problems. However, a frequent issue that seems to prevent many women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each individual reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any unfavorable side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic treatments.

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

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The second research study(2), also released in the prestigious journal, Spine, was performed in an effort to establish 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 authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 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 determine 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 Kids

This third research paper(3) is unique from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers investigated 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse effects. When parents were surveyed, 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 has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Parkland, FL 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.