Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We care for a large number of people in our Port Coquitlam office, and Dr. Olson has helped many people overcome a variety of health problems. In spite of this, one concern that seems to prevent a lot of men and women from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the real chiropractic adjustments.

The authors reported that nobody reported any serious negative adverse reactions in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic Care is Safe

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

Again, the researchers found no serious adverse side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total side effects to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this caused the authors to determine 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 Your Children

The third study(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors investigated results 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 reported only three cases where there were negative 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 deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Port Coquitlam office and make an appointment today at (604) 941-4596.

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.