Chiropractic Proven Safe

We tend to a large number of patients in our Columbus office, and Dr. Kenneth Osborn has helped many people eliminate a range of health issues. Even so, the primary concern that seems to stop some women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of many on the topic), 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 women and men. Each individual was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits while the other half received two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

The authors reported that no participants reported any serious adverse adverse reactions at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

A second research study(2), also released in the distinguished journal, Spine, was done in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts computed 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 first study, some people did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Kids

The third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it focuses 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 treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the children, chiropractors answering 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 studies like these, chiropractic has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Columbus clinic and make an appointment today at (614) 789-2200.

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.