Chiropractic Proven Safe

We care for a large number of patients in our Napa, CA clinic, and Dr. Bettencourt has helped countless people eliminate a range of health issues. In spite of this, a common issue that seems to stop many people from getting care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each individual reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant negative effects occurred as a result of the actual chiropractic treatments.

The doctors found that nobody documented any significant unfavorable adverse reactions at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic is Safe

A second article(2), also released in the distinguished journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to determine 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.

Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total side 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 people did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused 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

This third study(3) is unique from the first two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors 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 young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse 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 learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Napa, CA office and make an appointment today at (707) 257-3600.

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.