We see a large number of people in our Windsor clinic, and Dr. Martin Stine has helped many people manage a range of health problems. In spite of this, one concern that seems to prevent a lot of men and women from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 adults. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.
The doctors reported that nobody documented any serious unfavorable side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
The second research study(2), also released in the distinguished publication, Spine, was conducted in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. 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 adverse side effects. The authors determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some participants 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."
This third research paper(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, 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 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 care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Windsor clinic and make an appointment today at (970) 460-0168.
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