Chiropractic Proven Safe in Noblesville

We care for a large number of patients in our Noblesville office, and Dr. Dahlager has helped countless people overcome a wide array of health issues. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to stop many folks from getting care is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each individual reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any undesirable side effects were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors reported that no participants documented any significant negative adverse reactions whatsoever after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did state that they experienced a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) after treatment, but the results were not serious.

National Survey Finds that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The next article(2), also released in the important publication, Spine, was done in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the investigators discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 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, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Your Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this article, the authors investigated data 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 children, chiropractors answering 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 these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Noblesville clinic and schedule 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.