Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We care for a large number of people in our Ronkonkoma office, and Dr. Priolo has helped countless people eliminate a range of health issues. In spite of this, the primary concern that seems to prevent many folks from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, 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 study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women. Each participant reported affected by spine-related pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see if any undesirable side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

The authors found that no participants documented any significant negative adverse reactions at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

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

Once again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total negative effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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 Care Is Safe for Your Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the researchers analyzed 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 ones, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse side effects. 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 studies like these, chiropractic has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Ronkonkoma office and schedule an appointment today at (631) 676-6324.

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.