Chiropractic Proven Safe

We tend to a large number of patients in our Great Falls, MT clinic, and Dr. Tim Six has helped many people manage a range of health challenges. In spite of this, the primary worry that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject reported affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care while the other half received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors reported that nobody documented any significant undesirable side effects at all after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

Large US Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

A second study(2), also published in the important medical journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some volunteers 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 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 Care Is Safe for Your Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, researchers investigated 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse side 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 find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Great Falls, MT office and make an appointment today at (406) 452-6929.

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.