Juneau, AK Chiropractic for familiesWe care for a large number of patients in our Juneau, AK office, and Dr. Messerschmidt has helped countless people manage a wide array of health issues. In spite of this, a frequent concern that seems to stop many people from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each individual was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any unpleasant negative effects occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

The doctors found that no participants documented any serious undesirable adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did report that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The second research study(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts determined the risk of total negative effects to be approximately six 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, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted 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 Care Is Safe for Children

This third study(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the authors analyzed 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 reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were questioned, 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 learn what chiropractic 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.
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