We care for a large number of people in our Nashville office, and Sweeney Chiropractic has helped many people manage a range of health issues. However, the primary concern that seems to prevent many men and women from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the topic), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each individual was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the other half were given two fake chiropractic adjustments. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unfavorable side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.
The authors found that nobody reported any serious undesirable side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.
The next research study(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 people. 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 side effects to be approximately six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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."
The third study(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. 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 young ones, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse effects. 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 care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Nashville office and make 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.
