Studies Confirm that Chiropractic is Safe

We care for a large number of patients in our Hauppauge office, and Dr. Cohen has helped many people eliminate a variety of health challenges. Even so, one issue that seems to stop a lot of folks from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 adults. Each individual reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine if any unpleasant reactions were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers reported that no one reported any serious negative side effects at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did state that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next article(2), also published in the prestigious publication, Spine, was done in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the experts discovered no serious adverse side effects. The authors determined the risk of total negative effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused 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 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 kids. In this case, the authors analyzed 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 children, chiropractors responding to 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 care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Hauppauge clinic and schedule an appointment today at (631) 360-7999.

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.