We care for a large number of people in our Nashville office, and Sweeney Chiropractic has helped many people overcome a wide array of health issues. In spite of this, the primary concern that seems to prevent a lot of folks from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each individual reported affected by spine-related pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unfavorable negative effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic treatments.
Researchers reported that no participants documented any significant unfavorable adverse reactions at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did state that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
The second article(2), also published in the distinguished journal, Spine, was done in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. The study 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 study participants.
Once again, the experts found 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. And, just as with the first study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), 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."
The third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the authors investigated 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 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 found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Nashville office and schedule an appointment today at (615) 331-7040.
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Dr. Jim Sweeney & Dr. Jon Sweeney, your Nashville Chiropractors and Palmer College of Chiropractic West graduates, provide quality chiropractic care to patients in Nashville, TN. If you suffer from back pain, neck pain, headache, sciatica or have been in an auto collision, Sweeney Chiropractic can get you back on the road to health.
