Family Chiropractic - How Safe Is Chiropractic Care

There are risks in everything we do in life. We put our life at risk every time we get into our cars and drive down the road. We may be putting our life at risk when we eat certain foods or drink the water. There are even risks with breathing the air around us. Many people slip and fall and seriously injure themselves right in their own homes. Yet we all take these risks every day of our lives because we know that the actual risk is very low.

There are many serious risks when you visit your medical doctor for neck or back pain. Based on statistics from the United States, for every 1000 neck neuro-surgeries, 15 cases of permanent paralysis occurs(1). For every 83 low back surgeries performed, one death occurs(2). 100,000 people will die this year from reactions to their medications(3) and 1000 people will die this week from complications to surgery that was medically unnecessary(3).

How do these risks compare to the risks for chiropractic care?

		According to a Canadian study, the chances of serious complications to the arteries in the head and neck (stroke) are 1 per every 3,846,000 people.(4) According to the 1996 Rand Report, the chances of a fatality from spinal manipulation of the cervical spine is 2.68 per 10,000,000 people or 0.000000268 %.(5) When you compare this to the risk of neck surgery with a fatality rate of 6.9 people per 1000 surgeries (or 69,000 per 10,000,000), surgery is nearly 26,000 times more likely to result in a fatality. In comparison to every day life, the likelihood of dying as a result of being struck by a falling aircraft in the U.S. or from a lightning strike in the U.K. is three times greater than the likelihood of fatality associated with manipulation.(6)

You Are Three Times More Likely To Be Struck By Lightning Than Have A Fatality With Spinal Manipulation. - JAMA

A study funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health stated that there are no studies that demonstrate or even imply that chiropractic care is unsafe for back pain.(7)

As you can see, chiropractic care is very safe, especially when compared to more conventional medical treatments.

1 Rocha vs Harris (1987) 39 C.C.L.T. 297, 283, A canadian case, expert testimony of Dr. Lawrence Clein, Neurosurgeon.

2 Bouillet R., "Treatment of Sciatica: A comparative survey of the complications of surgical treatment and nucleolysis with chymopapain." Clin. Orth. Rel. Res., 251:144-152, 1990.

3 Cloud, D.M., Ingram, D., Gloucester County Times. March 13, 1994.

4 Carey, P., "C.V.A. in Chiropractic Practice." Journal of the C.C.A., Volume 37 No. 2, 104-106.

5 Coulter 1, Hurwitz,"The Appropriateness of Manipulation and Mobilization of the Cervical Spine." Santa Monica, California:R.A.N.D., 1996.

6 Levine M., Walter S., Lee H., "Users Guide to Medical Literature." J. Am. Medical Association 1994; 271:1615-1619.

7 Manga, P. et al. The Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic Management of Low-Back Pain. U. of Ottawa, Canada 1993.