Chiropractic Proven Safe

We tend to a large number of people in our Juneau, AK clinic, and Dr. Messerschmidt has helped countless people eliminate a wide array of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent worry that seems to prevent some people from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject was affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to see whether or not any unfavorable side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that none of the patients reported any serious undesirable side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did state that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The next article(2), also published in the influential publication, Spine, was done in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the researchers discovered no serious adverse side effects. The authors determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, side 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%), and this caused 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 Is Safe for Children

This third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, 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 children, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Juneau, AK clinic and make an appointment today at (907) 789-1344.

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.