We see a large number of people in our Harrisburg office, and Dr. Blake has helped countless people manage a variety of health problems. However, a frequent concern that seems to stop a lot of men and women from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of quite a few on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men. Each test subject reported suffering from spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments while the remaining patients received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.
The doctors reported that nobody reported any serious negative adverse reactions whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they had a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not serious.
The second research study(2), also released in the prestigious journal, Spine, was done in an effort to determine the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.
Once again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total side effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some participants 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."
This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the 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 kids, chiropractors answering the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Harrisburg clinic and schedule an appointment today at (717) 657-2561.
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Trust the medical professionals at Blake Chiropractic & Rehab for all of your chiropractic needs. We have more than 26 years of experience and work to ensure your complete satisfaction. Our staff is dedicated to providing top-quality chiropractic care, so make an appointment today. We are conveniently located right off Route 22, beside the Colonial Park Fire Department, and accept most major insurance plans.
