We see a large number of people in our Gresham clinic, and Dr. Ramsey has helped many people eliminate a wide array of health issues. However, a common worry that seems to prevent a lot of men and women from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"
The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each person was suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two sham chiropractic treatment sessions. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.
The doctors reported that nobody reported any significant adverse adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some participants did report that they got a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the results were not serious.
The next study(2), also released in the prestigious publication, Spine, was conducted in an effort to ascertain the safety of chiropractic care. The study 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 adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total negative effects to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the first study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), 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 research paper(3) is different from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the authors analyzed data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic adjustments.
Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young ones, chiropractors responding to the survey documented only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were surveyed, 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 studies like these, chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic can do for you, call our Gresham clinic and schedule an appointment today at (503) 667-6744.
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Dr. Robert Ramsey and the talented team at Gresham Family Chiropractic have been providing the best chiropractic care available to patients in Gresham, OR since 1997. We treat many conditions related to back pain, neck pain, headaches, and sciatica. Dr. Ramsey also specializes in the treatment of auto accident injuries and work injuries sustained on the job.
