Is Chiropractic Safe?

We tend to a large number of people in our Naperville, IL clinic, and Frank Bendiks, DC, PC has helped many people overcome a wide array of health problems. Even so, the primary concern that seems to prevent a lot of people from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of countless 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 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person was suffering from spinal pain, and half of the individuals received actual chiropractic care visits while the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic treatments.

The authors found that no participants reported any serious negative side effects at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did state that they experienced a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

A second research study(2), also published in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total side effects to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) 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 Adjustments are Safe for Kids

The third research paper(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 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 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Naperville, IL office and schedule an appointment today at (630) 301-0054.

Dr. Bendiks regulary attends post-doctural training courses on the latest chiropractic techniques, including a 20 hour session over the first weekend of October presented by the Illinois Chiropractic Society. The training course covered subjects such as 'Exceptional Outcomes in the Management Low Back Pain Patients' and 'Foot, Ankle and Knee Conditions, Injuries and Syndromes'.

Dr. Bendiks was appointed by the Northern District Director of the ICS (Dr. Erin Ducat) as a board certified orthopedic chiropractic physician available to instruct other chiropractic physicians in various diagnosis and therapeutic areas of orthopedics.

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.