We care for a large number of people in our New York office, and Dr. John Phelts has helped many people manage a range of health issues. In spite of this, one concern that seems to stop some folks from getting care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the real chiropractic treatments.

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

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

A second study(2), also released in the distinguished journal, Spine, was done in an effort to determine 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.

Once again, the researchers found no serious negative side effects. The authors determined the risk of total side 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 (16 out of every 1,000 treatment consultations and 15 out of every 1,000 treatment sessions) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the researchers 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 Kids

The third study(3) is unique from the previous 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 treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the kids, chiropractors answering the survey documented 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 studies like these, chiropractic has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our New York clinic and make an appointment today at (212) 286-2012.

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.