We care for a large number of people in our Oakleigh clinic, and North Road Chiropractic has helped countless people overcome a range of health problems. Even so, a common worry that seems to stop some women and men from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first article(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was collected after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any unpleasant side effects were caused by the real chiropractic treatments.
The doctors found that none of the patients documented any significant unfavorable side effects whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did report that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
The next study(2), also published in the influential medical journal, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Once again, the researchers found no serious adverse side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total negative effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, side 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 caused the authors 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 reports, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, researchers investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.
Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the young children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse 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 judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Oakleigh office and make an appointment today at (03) 9579 2699.
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Since 1987, North Road Chiropractic patients have benefited from the hands-on, low-force, safe and painless chiropractic techniques offered. Utilizing the best and latest in diagnostic techniques, state of the art equipment, setting us apart amongst Oakleigh chiropractors.
