We see a large number of people in our Charlotte, NC clinic, and ChiroWerx has helped countless people manage a variety of health challenges. Even so, one concern that seems to prevent some women and men from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the subject), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported suffering from spine-related pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the other half received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.
The doctors found that no one documented any serious adverse side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.
The next research study(2), also released in the influential journal, Spine, was done 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 adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, unwanted 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 determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."
This third study(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it focuses 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 appointments made for the young ones, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were questioned, 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 deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic treatment can do for you, call our Charlotte, NC clinic and make an appointment today at (980) 201-9484.
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Dr. Kyle’s desire is to leave a legacy with his undying passion for helping others. He seeks only to improve his patients’ overall health and wellness and he hopes for more opportunities to teach about nutrition and the body.
