Neck Pain Task Force Releases Findings – Are Chiropractic Adjustments Safe?

It’s amazing that the concern over the safety of chiropractic still comes up time and time again. All you really have to do is look at chiropractic’s amazing track record and the extremely low cost of malpractice insurance for chiropractic doctor’s to know it’s safe.

I’ve been in practice since 1992 and continue to provide natural, safe and effective care to my clients.

Chiropractic, massage and other natural therapies are extremely safe. Chiropractic has been around since 1895 and is still the leading alternative to traditional medicine. At least on this side of the earth!

But just in case you fear getting a stroke when you get adjusted by your chiropractor please read on…

———————————–

Among the comprehensive findings is the groundbreaking study on vertebral artery dissection and stroke risk.

After six years and an exhaustive review of published neck pain research, including almost 32,000 research citations and more than 1,000 relevant studies, the Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain has released its findings, which address prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of neck pain, in a special supplement of the journal Spine.

The task force also conducted several original studies, including “Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care: Results of a Population-Based Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study.” According to the task force, their findings suggest the risk of suffering a stroke following a cervical manipulation is attributable to a vertebral artery dissection (VAD) that is already in progress prior to the adjustment. The dissection likely results in neck pain that brings the patient to the chiropractor’s office seeking relief.

The authors also documented only a handful of stroke cases following chiropractic cervical manipulation in a massive study population spanning nearly 100 million person-years. Even more impressive, the data suggest that while spinal manipulation may increase the risk of an embolism in those with a VAD in progress, which can then lead to a stroke, the association between the stroke and the office visit was no higher in patients who sought the care of a chiropractor than in patients who sought the care of a general physician.

quoted from an article by Kathryn Feather, Associate Editor of Dynamic Chiropractic; emphasis mine.

———————————–

Did you catch that? Chiropractic care is proven to be extremely safe. It has always been safe. Even those “scary” neck adjustments are safe… when done by a highly skilled professional.

To put risk in perspective, think about this: around 100,000 people die each year from drugs and medical mistakes. That’s 274 people every day… or 11 people every hour! And some believe this number is very conservative as it only counts the actual reported mistakes.

So there’s really no doubt to the safety of your chiropractor’s adjustments. Unless you smell alcohol on his/her breath… then my advice would be – run for the door. Then call me.