We tend to a large number of patients in our Portland clinic, and Dr. Helton has helped countless people manage a range of health problems. In spite of this, one concern that seems to stop some men and women from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each individual reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant negative effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic adjustments.
The authors found that none of the patients reported any serious adverse adverse reactions in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.
A second article(2), also published in the prestigious medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger -- 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Again, the researchers found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed 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, 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%), 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 first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, 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 visits made for the kids, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were questioned, 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 care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Portland clinic and schedule an appointment today at (503) 771-1974.
References
Dr. Helton, a Portland chiropractor, has been providing chiropractic health care and treatment for accident injuries for over 30 years. Dr. Helton specializes and is an expert in the evaluation and treatment of injuries from auto accidents. He has passed advanced certification training and testing by the Spine Research Institute of San Diego in the evaluation, treatment, and management of injuries from whiplash and brain traumatology.
