We see a large number of people in our Nashville office, and Sweeney Chiropractic has helped many people manage a wide array of health issues. Even so, one issue that seems to prevent many people from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is 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 article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each participant reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any undesirable negative effects occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic adjustments.
Researchers found that none of the patients documented any serious undesirable side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.
The next study(2), also released in the important medical journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic care. The study group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated 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 individuals 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 out of every 100), 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 study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers analyzed 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 kids, 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. Additionally, 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 found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Nashville clinic and schedule an appointment today at (615) 331-7040.
References
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.
