We tend to a large number of people in our Downtown St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Holland has helped many people eliminate a range of health challenges. In spite of this, a common issue that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the other half received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.
Researchers found that no one reported any significant negative side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did report that they got a headache (9% of patients) 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 influential journal, Spine, was done in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 different from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the authors investigated data 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 reactions. 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 learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Downtown St. Louis, MO office and schedule an appointment today at (314) 588-9100.
References
We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
