We tend to a large number of patients in our North County St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Holland has helped countless people overcome a variety of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent concern that seems to stop some men and women from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to see if any unpleasant reactions occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.
The doctors reported that no one documented any significant negative side effects in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
A second article(2), also published in the prestigious journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 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, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), 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."
This third study(3) is different from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the authors 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 documented 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. 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 find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our North County St. Louis, MO clinic and schedule an appointment today at (314) 867-8888.
References
We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
