Are Chiropractors Safe?
This blog will address 6 crucial concerns about the safety of chiropractic care, including research-backed answers to the following questions:
What do chiropractors treat?
Is chiropractic safe?
Can chiropractors hurt you?
Can chiropractors cause strokes?
1. First off- What Does a Chiropractor Do?
A Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) is a specialist caring for nerves, muscles, and joints. Think - aches, pains, and creaks. Chiropractors use their hands to perform manipulations, or adjustments, that restore function to stiff and painful joints. Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery but instead, use several other tools to help patients recover.
2. What Do Chiropractors Treat?
A common misconception is that chiropractors only “crack your back.” However, chiropractic care specializes in treating conditions from your head (like headaches) to your feet (like plantar fasciitis.) Over 100 research studies have confirmed that manual therapy, including chiropractic manipulation, is effective for various nerve, muscle, and joint disorders. (1-122)
3. Does Chiropractic Help?
Results from a large chiropractic network dataset confirm that chiropractic patients generally experience significant improvement within 30 days of initiating chiropractic care. (123,124)
4. Is Chiropractic Safe?
Research has established that chiropractic care is effective; however, a more concerning issue remains: Are chiropractors safe? In particular, are neck adjustments safe? And, can you suffer a stroke from chiropractor?
Media outlets have highlighted published estimates that 1 in 5.7 million (or <0.0000002%) of chiropractic patients suffer a stroke in the days or weeks following treatment (vertebral artery dissection after chiropractic manipulation). Some individuals question if a stroke from neck adjustment could be the cause.
To date, six sizeable medical research studies (125-129, 145) have answered the question can chiropractors cause strokes? And are chiropractors dangerous?
Each study concluded that chiropractic spinal manipulation does not cause strokes; however, patients with symptoms of an impending stroke are more likely to seek care from various providers, including chiropractors. Chiropractic or medical treatment is not the cause of the stroke but rather a non-contributory event that happened during a silent developing crisis.
Several other studies have confirmed the overall safety record of chiropractic care and spinal manipulation:
“risk of injury to the head, neck or trunk within seven days was 76% lower among subjects with a chiropractic office visit as compared to those who saw a primary care physician.” (130)
And the Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported:
“spinal manipulative therapy was associated with improvements in pain and function with only transient minor musculoskeletal harms [i.e., soreness]” (131)
And a Scientific Reports study of nearly one million chiropractic manipulation concluded:
“severe spinal manipulation-related adverse events were reassuringly very rare [including no strokes or other life-threatening events.” (132)
5. So Why Is the Chiropractic Stroke Myth Perpetuated?
Unfortunately, not all physicians and media outlets have recognized the facts about chiropractic stroke, and some continue to spread sensationalized chiropractic injury stories that dissuade patients from seeking chiropractic care.
A recent Annals of Medicine paper highlighted the problem behind the “chiropractic is dangerous” myth:
“The assumption that the cervical manual-therapy intervention triggers CAD [cervical artery dissection stroke] in rare cases has been dominated by single-case reports and retrospective case series or surveys from neurologists who naturally lack substantial methodological quality to establish definitive causality. These neurological case reports have probably contributed to an over-reporting of serious and catastrophic adverse events.” (125)
Separating Fact from Fallacy
Fallacy: Correlation implies causation.
Fact: Correlation does not imply causation.
Although two events happened around the same time, one did not necessarily cause the other.
6. The Acid Test: How Often Do Chiropractors Get Sued?
If a doctor consistently delivers care without serious side effects, their malpractice insurance rates are low; and the opposite is true for higher-risk providers.
An analysis of malpractice insurance premium rates per provider confirms that chiropractors pay some of the lowest rates in healthcare (133,134). This objective and quantifiable data further support the safety of chiropractic care.
Conclusion
Research has definitively established that chiropractic spinal manipulation:
Is effective for several common conditions
Does not cause strokes (125-129, 145)
Plus, several recent studies have shown that chiropractic patients have a lower risk of drug use and associated side effects. (135-141)
It’s not surprising that authorities like the American College of Physicians, the FDA, and the CDC have recognized the value of non-pharmacologic therapies, including chiropractic care. (142-144) So if you're looking for a safe, natural, and drug-free way to address your health, chiropractic treatment may be worth considering.
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