Is Chiropratic Safe?

There’s a reason people who have seen chiropractors swear by them and continue to go back: because chiropractic care is just as safe as it is effective.

Your spine is an extremely important feature of your anatomy. Aside from obvious reasons, it’s also the home to your central nervous system and, thus, is surrounded by nerves. On top of that, you have large and important muscle groups all around it, as well.

Chiropractors are trained specialists who spend their entire careers learning about this one vital part of the body - your spine.

Chiropractic has been shown to be one of the safest treatment approaches in healthcare today. No intervention is free from risks but chiropractic has a very safe track record.

Minor side effects (such as temporary soreness similar to that which can be experienced after a workout) after spine manipulation can happen but that the risk of a serious adverse event was ‘low to very low’.

Some reports have associated upper high-velocity neck manipulation with a certain rare kind of stroke, or vertebral artery dissection. However, evidence suggests that this type of arterial injury often takes place spontaneously in patients who have pre-existing arterial disease. These dissections have been associated with everyday activities such as turning the head while driving, swimming, or having a shampoo in a hair salon. Patients with this condition may experience neck pain and headache that leads them to seek professional care—often at the office of a doctor of chiropractic or family physician—but that care is not the cause of the injury. Studies have found that “there was no evidence that visiting a Chiropractor put people at greater risk than visiting a primary care physician.” 

The best evidence indicates that the incidence of artery injuries associated with high-velocity upper neck manipulation is extremely rare—about 1 per 5.85 million. To put this in perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning in any one year is 1 in 700,000. Therefore, having a significant side effect from a chiropractic treatment is much less likely than getting struck by lightning!

Risks associated with some of the most common treatments for musculoskeletal pain—over-the-counter or prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and prescription painkillers—are significantly greater than those of chiropractic manipulation.

 According to the American Journal of Gastroenterology, people taking NSAIDS are three times more likely than those who do not to develop serious adverse gastrointestinal problems such as hemorrhage (bleeding) and perforation. That risk rises to more than five times among people age 60 and older.

Moreover, the number of prescriptions for powerful drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone have tripled in the past 12 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that abuse of these commonly prescribed painkillers are among the leading causes of accidental death in the United States. Overdoses of opioid painkillers are responsible for some 15,000 deaths per year; that’s more than the number of deaths from cocaine and heroin combined.

When you look at the data, Chiropractic is an extremely safe health care option and an important part of your overall health. Book an appointment to start feeling your best.

 Dr. Stephen Kelly is a Chiropractor at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located In Red Deer, AB
 www.family1stchiro.ca   Call 403-347-3261 to book an appointment.