We tend to a large number of people in our North St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Holland has helped countless people eliminate a range of health issues. However, one worry that seems to prevent some men and women from pursuing care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatments. Data was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover whether or not any undesirable reactions occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.
Researchers found that nobody documented any significant negative side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (37%) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.
The second article(2), also published in the important publication, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 patients. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.
Once again, the investigators found no serious negative side effects. The authors determined the risk of total negative effects to be about six 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 (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this caused the researchers to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."
This third study(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it focuses on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, researchers analyzed 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 young ones, chiropractors answering the survey documented 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. 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 discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our North St. Louis, MO clinic and schedule an appointment today at (314) 588-9100.
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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.
