We care for a large number of patients in our Noblesville office, and Dr. Dahlager has helped many people eliminate a wide array of health issues. However, the primary issue that seems to prevent many men and women from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of many on the issue), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant was affected by some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care whereas the other half were given two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any undesirable negative effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors reported that none of the patients documented any serious unfavorable side effects in any way after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.

National Survey Confirms that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The second article(2), also published in the prestigious journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts determined 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 (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused 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 Is Safe for Children

This third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors 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 adverse reactions. When parents were questioned, 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Noblesville office and make an appointment today at (317) 214-7218.

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.