We tend to a large number of patients in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has helped countless people manage a range of health challenges. In spite of this, the primary concern that seems to stop some women and men from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each person reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.
The doctors found that none of the patients documented any serious negative side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did state that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.
The next article(2), also released in the influential publication, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. 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.
Once again, the investigators discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total side 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 participants 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."
This third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the researchers 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 young children, chiropractors answering the survey documented 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 has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our North County St. Louis, MO clinic and make an appointment today at (314) 867-8888.
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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.
