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.
April 3, 2008 No Comments
What a Pain
With all this talk about pursuing a lifestyle of wellness, I want to address the number one reason people consult our office. Pain.
We, at Spectrum Wellness, accept clients with big pains or little ones. We handle acute or chronic conditions. Sport or work-related injuries. Even motor vehicle accident injuries. We welcome clients ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other.
What is pain anyway? Does it have a purpose?
Pain is a warning sign. It’s your body’s way of telling you that a limit has been reached. Like a smoke alarm, it’s not the alarm that’s the problem. The alarm has a cause, just like nearly every ache or pain has a cause. Some people choose to just cover up the pain instead of correcting the true cause. They end up believing that they’re totally fine because they feel fine. Unfortunately, the problem that lies below the surface of the pain still exists.
What’s your approach to dealing with pain?
Drugs?
Choosing to numb or cover up the pain with a chemical. Drugs can offer temporary relief, but they can’t correct structural or functional problems – such as spinal joint dysfunction (subluxation) or muscular problems. Just covering up the symptoms of a problem can be dangerous. Imagine if you were driving your car and a red flashing light appeared on the dashboard. Would it be wise to take a black marker and scribble over the light so that it wouldn’t shine in your eyes? Also, many drugs have dangerous side-effects and also have a long-term toxic effect on the whole body… just check out the back page of a drug advertisement in a magazine.
Physical Therapy?
Physical therapy is an option that many people choose. However, exercising spinal joints that are misaligned is like continuing to drive your car with misaligned wheels! Some physical therapy facilities do adjustments like us.more than guide patients in an exercise program, but none offer the combination of natural therapies that we have.
Surgery?
This is the most drastic of all measures. Cutting through layers of skin and muscle tissue to cut, scrape, fuse, remove or alter body parts. While there may be times when surgery makes sense, they are risky. When it comes to emergency care, nothing beats Western Medicine. If I had a serious knife wound, I wouldn’t drop in to a fellow chiropractor’s office to get an adjustment! I’d get to an ER stat. Go to a hospital for sickness care… come to us for health care.
Natural Therapy?
Even better, Natural therapy is safe. The combination of chiropractic, massage and exercise therapy is the wise choice. Our focus is to find and correct the underlying cause of your problem.
March 28, 2008 No Comments

