Studies Confirm that Chiropractic Treatment Is Safe

We see a large number of patients in our Alpharetta clinic, and Dr. Berklich has helped many people eliminate a variety of health challenges. In spite of this, a common issue that seems to stop many women and men from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each test subject reported suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

Researchers reported that nobody reported any serious negative side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The second research study(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was done in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total negative effects to be about 6 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, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused the authors to conclude 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 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 article, researchers investigated data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the young ones, 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. 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 Alpharetta clinic and schedule an appointment today at (770) 475-2225.

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.