Is chiropractic care dangerous and does it have side effects?

Chiropractic Side Effects

If the risk were as high as some claim, we would see reports of several thousands or even hundreds of thousands of cases each year in the medical literature reporting on the side effects of chiropractic.

And in the media, according to the number of treatments performed each year, and this is not the case. Only sensationalist press can skew information to suit their interests in this regard.

The specific chiropractic adjustment is a very controlled manipulation and the chiropractic side effects of the treatment are very rare. There has been a lot of research on our https://quiropractica1.com/76-menos-riesgos-con-la-quiropractica/ chiropractic treatment and the patient informs us that their satisfaction is always very high.

But as with any therapeutic procedure, there are potential side effects and risks involved. Did you know that when you take a painkiller, the severity of the frequency of side effects is greater than with chiropractic treatment?

So, what are the side effects of chiropractic treatment?

What are the chiropractic side effects?

Approximately half of patients have some form of reaction to the treatment, but fortunately, symptoms in most (85%) are mild. Local discomfort and fatigue are the most common side effects, which disappear within 24 hours for most (74%). This study conducted in 1997 included 4,712 treatments in 1,058 new patients. Link to the research.

A more recent study, published in Spine in 2007, had very similar findings. It included 19,722 treatments, which is a large study. The aim of the study was to find out what effects the treatment had and the possible side effects of the treatment. The findings were very similar to the previous study. Link to the research.

In the two previous studies, no serious side effects were reported.

Are there serious chiropractic side effects?

The most serious, but rare, risk is dissection of the vertebral or carotid artery and a stroke after specific cervical manipulation.

The incidence of stroke in previous studies has ranged from 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 5.85 million treatments. The important thing to remember is that these studies never showed that chiropractic treatment caused the stroke, but that there was an association with the treatment (which means that the person had visited a chiropractor before the incident).

An article on a study in 2001 determined that the risk of such a stroke occurring is 1 in every 5.85 million specific neck manipulations. LINK to the research.

Another study determined that there was a risk of 1.3 strokes for every 100,000 specific manipulations one week after the manipulation. But in this study, they could not be sure that the cause was the manipulation due to the delay. LINK to the research.

That is to say, this should be compared to the rate of spontaneous vertebral artery dissections. Without manipulation, which is estimated at approximately 1-3 per 100,000 people. LINK to investigate, LINK to more research.

Those figures suggest that it is more likely to have a stroke from everyday activities. Common activities like turning your head back in the car, looking up for a long time, painting the ceiling, washing your hair at the hairdressers, doing pilates and yoga, and many more everyday activities.

Research shows that there is no stress on the neck arteries!

Research has shown that the arteries in the neck do not experience more stress with chiropractic adjustment compared to neck movements in normal daily activities.

This was probably not a surprise to most chiropractors, as a normal neck adjustment rarely involves much more than 45° of rotation and slight extension. This is a position that most people routinely perform in normal activities several times a day. LINK to the research.

You are more likely to have a serious side effect from painkillers!

Some important recent research on the safety of neck manipulation has shown that chiropractic neck manipulation is a very low-risk treatment when performed by qualified and experienced specialists like chiropractors. In fact, there are more risks associated with taking painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), the commonly purchased over-the-counter pain relievers and regularly prescribed by doctors, such as ibuprofen and aspirin than with chiropractic care.

In the United States, 16,500 people die each year from NSAID use. Read more about painkillers here.

Recent scientific reviews also seriously question the effectiveness of using painkillers for low back pain, especially considering the risks. LINK to the research.

Patients have the same likelihood of having a stroke after seeing their primary care physician.

New research from prominent researcher Dr. David Cassidy, published in January 2008, a nine-year study showed that the incidence of vertebral artery (VBA) stroke is not higher after seeing a chiropractor than a family doctor.

Family doctors do not perform manipulations, so why did people suffer a stroke after seeing their primary care physician? Well, the explanation is that people were already in the midst of a stroke when they contacted their chiropractor or primary care physician. Neck pain and headache are common symptoms of VBA dissection and usually precede the VBA stroke, and people experiencing headache and neck pain may choose to consult a chiropractor or primary care physician. LINK to the research.

In October 2007, a study conducted in the UK analyzing the safety of specific chiropractic neck manipulation, collecting data from 19,722 patients, concluded: “… the risk of a serious adverse event … was very low to very low.” LINK to the research.

So, is the risk high?

Everyone has agendas, including chiropractors, and one could argue that, as chiropractors, we would like to underestimate any risk.

Anyone responsible would want to know if what they are doing or what they plan to do carries risks both for themselves and for others, and others might not.

But most chiropractors, in my opinion, certainly would. I have never met a chiropractor who does not treat their colleagues, friends, family, and even their own children. If there were a serious risk, I’m sure they would want to know.

If the risk were as high as some claim, we would see several thousands or even hundreds of thousands of cases reported each year in the medical literature and in the media, according to the number of treatments performed each year, and that is not the case.

So, the studies that say the incidence of stroke is 1 in 5.85 million are probably correct, but it seems that the stroke is not due to the chiropractor, but is an event that is already underway when the patient arrives at the chiropractor. LINK to the research.

In fact, there is a greater risk of death due to activities such as driving a car, pregnancy, taking birth control pills, and other normal activities than from neck manipulation. Dinman, BD; The reality and acceptance of risk; Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 244 (11): 1126-1128, 198. LINK to the research.

Less conservative treatments, such as neck surgery, are also used in very similar conditions to those treated with spinal manipulation. According to research, there is a complication rate of 3-4% for cervical spine surgery and 4,000 to 10,000 deaths per million neck surgeries.

(Source: Editorial Committee of the Cervical Spine Research Society The Cervical Spine, second edition Philadelphia: JB Lippincott Company 1990: 834).

And if you are considering lumbar spine surgery, there is a risk of death of 7 people for every 10,000 surgeries.

Other Activities and Their Associated Risks

Let’s take a look at other activities and the risks they carry. This information is taken from a research article from the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1980.

Activity	Risk of death per person per year
Smoking: 20 cigarettes/day	1 in 200
Drinking: 1 bottle of wine per day	1 in 13,300
Playing Football	1 in 25,500
Automobile driving	1 in 1,000
Car driving (UK)	1 in 5,900
Motorcycling	1 in 50
Rock climbing	1 in 7,150
Taking birth control pills	1 in 5,000
Boating	1 in 5,900
Canoeing	1 in 100,000
Horse racing	1 in 740
Amateur boxing	1 in 2 million
Professional boxing	1 in 14,300
Skiing	1 in 430,000
Pregnancy (UK)	1 in 4,350
Abortion: Legal:	1 in 50,000
Abortion: Legal: > 14 weeks	1 in 5,900

(Source: Dinman BD. The reality and acceptance of risk. Journal of the American Medical Association 1980; 244 (11): 1226-1228.)

Why Exaggerate the Risk of Chiropractic Treatment?

First of all, exaggerating the risk would undermine the treatment and prevent people from using it, so who would benefit from that?

Probably, anyone treating similar conditions would benefit, anyone manufacturing pain medications would benefit, and anyone who feels threatened or has an excuse to do so may feel motivated to do so.

In the 1970s, the medical profession in the United States (American Medical Association (AMA)) was taken to court by four chiropractors who alleged that they were undermining the chiropractic profession. The AMA and its officials were found guilty, according to the allegations, of trying to eliminate the chiropractic profession. They lost the trial, so there must be some people who felt offended by this court ruling. Perhaps they still feel offended? Read more about the trial.

There have been some very elaborate attempts in the UK to discredit chiropractic recently.

For example, Professor Edzard Ernst has made several statements to the press in recent years about the risks of chiropractic treatment, which were published.

Unfortunately, he confused the facts and exaggerated the risk, which was great for the press because it sold newspapers. In one of the articles, he said that chiropractors should act together and research the topic, and he was right on that point.

In 2007, Professor Ernst published a review of research on reviews of chiropractic treatment. It was a very skillful attempt to discredit chiropractic. He found that there was no evidence that chiropractic treatment was effective and, in addition to that, it was dangerous. The press loved it! LINK to Ernst’s JRSM article.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read!

In November 2007, several newspapers in the UK reported on research from Australia, where physiotherapists had used manipulation and compared it to taking painkillers for relief of acute back pain. They found no benefit from using manipulation.

The headline in UK newspapers was ‘Chiropractic treatment proved to be ineffective’.

They did not realize that the manipulators were not chiropractors but physiotherapists.

This entire study demonstrated that physiotherapy alone is no more effective than the other treatments in this study.

If they had investigated the topic a little more thoroughly, they would have noticed that there is a fundamental difference between the manipulation used in this study and the specific manipulation used by chiropractors.

They would also have known that chiropractors do not only use specific manipulation but combine our treatment with exercise, nutritional advice, lifestyle change advice, etc. Therefore, this study could not have been representative of chiropractic treatment if they had tried. LINK to the research.

Now, several valid research articles have been published since then, but none of them have been mentioned in the press. The reason is that ‘our readers would not be interested in reading about that’. Just enough, you wouldn’t expect the press to print something that wouldn’t sell a lot of copies.

 

These are some examples of how people are trying to discredit chiropractic treatment. One benefit of this is that it keeps us alert and encourages researchers to continue providing top-notch research for the chiropractic profession.

In Conclusion

Doctors of chiropractic are trained to identify who is at risk with a particular treatment method and can select the method that is most appropriate and safe for you.

Chiropractic doctors are trained in medical diagnosis to rule out underlying medical conditions that are not suitable for our treatment, and can refer you to the right person for other treatment if necessary.

Licensed chiropractors are highly trained in specific manipulation and therefore know how to use it safely, compared to other therapists who have taken a short course in manipulation.

We are always trying to provide our patients with the best possible care, and research has shown that the risk of side effects from chiropractic treatment is very small.

We are also pleased to say that the Marc Bony Chiropractic Center, DC has not had any patients with any serious side effects as a result of our treatment since we started in 2003.

If you would like to discuss any of the topics, please feel free to contact us.