Chiropractic: Safe for Everyone

We tend to a large number of patients in our Loveland clinic, and Kauffman Chiropractic has helped many people overcome a range of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to stop many men and women from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The authors found that none of the patients documented any significant adverse side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they had a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Finds that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The second research study(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was performed in an effort to ascertain 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 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, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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 Adjustments are Safe for Kids

This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, researchers investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. 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 judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Loveland office and schedule an appointment today at (513) 444-4529.

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.