Is Chiropractic Care Safe?

You’ve probably heard a lot about chiropractic care, and that may have caused you to wonder, “Is chiropractic care safe?” The answer, in a nutshell, is yes, it’s very safe when administered by an experienced and knowledgeable practitioner. It’s better than safe – it can be incredibly effective at relieving pain and inflammation in the body because gentle manipulations help realign the spine. By realigning the spine, pressure is taken off nerves impacted by subluxations or misalignments. Once that pressure has been relieved, the pain can begin to dissipate.

A chiropractor has extensive knowledge of the spine and all associated vertebrae. They can determine the exact source of your pain using x-rays, MRIs, and other diagnostic tools. When the underlying cause of pain is known, it can be focused on during chiropractic adjustments, providing relief for the patient. One of the best characteristics of chiropractic care is that it’s non-invasive, meaning no surgeries or other interventions during treatment. It also eschews the use of medications and painkillers because these only mask your symptoms temporarily.

When chiropractic care is not appropriate

Chiropractic care is a safe form of care, but that doesn’t mean it should be used in every situation. Some conditions make the use of chiropractic manipulations risky or completely undesirable. Your chiropractor will point these out to you and probably decline to perform any treatments or manipulations. Some of these conditions include the following:

• osteoporosis
• spinal deformities
• spinal cancer
• an increased risk of stroke
• several other medical problems related to pre-existing spinal issues.

Patients who have any of these conditions might be better served by surgery. Of course, for these patients, the surgery itself is a risk. Then again, surgery has certain risks attached under any circumstances.

Normal side effects

Most people who undergo chiropractic care will experience the typical side effects following treatment. There is usually a certain amount of tenderness, stiffness, or soreness in the area of the body just worked on by a chiropractor. However, these symptoms will almost always subside within a few hours, or at least by the next day. Other symptoms are rare in chiropractic patients unless they have a pre-existing condition that gets triggered during treatment.

Statistical evidence

The bottom line on chiropractic care is that it has a much lower injury rate than primary care. That means it’s even safer than anything your family doctor might do to help you. When treating lower back pain (the most common form of chiropractic care), the treatment delivered is typically 40% more effective than traditional medical care. More than 35 million Americans are treated by chiropractors every day of the year, amounting to more than one million such treatments.

Even across all those adjustments, chiropractic care has proven to be one of the safest forms of medical care available today. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about receiving chiropractic care, the statistical evidence should be enough to convince you that you’re on solid ground when seeking this form of treatment.

If you would like to see if chiropractic care can help you recover from recurring pains give us a call or fill out our online form for a FREE new patient consultation!