Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We tend to a large number of patients in our Hyattsville, District Heights office, and Dr. Aazami has helped countless people overcome a variety of health challenges. However, a frequent issue that seems to prevent some men and women from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of countless on the issue), 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 men and women. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any undesirable negative effects occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

The authors reported that no one reported any significant undesirable adverse reactions whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did state that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second study(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was done in an attempt 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 cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the investigators found no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated 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 volunteers did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) 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 Children

The third research paper(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses 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 visits made for the young children, chiropractors answering 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. Additionally, 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 care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Hyattsville, District Heights clinic and make an appointment today at (301) 322-7777.

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.