Is chiropractic care safe for everyone? This is a question asked rarely of chiropractic procedures these days. One could just as easily ask “How safe is it going to the gym”? Or, “How safe is indoor rock-climbing”? Even, “How safe is it getting out of bed”? Yes, chiropractic is safe, possibly safer, than most things. With everything, there is a risk of some kind, and chiropractic is no different. In the same way, as you risked your neck putting it out, there is a very minimal risk when it goes back in. Seriously, chiropractic care is very safe, if only for the fact that those who practice the art do so from a highly trained standpoint.
Chiropractors perform their adjustments or realignments on millions of people around the world every working day with the resulting relief and easing of pain provided for countless sufferers. The very rare risk of infrequent strain/injury to a ligament or disc in the neck (less than 1 in 139,000) or the lower back (1 in 62,000) is really too low to be too concerned over. The comparison of chiropractic care and a course of anti-inflammatory drugs to alleviate the pain of misalignment has demonstrated conclusively that chiropractic is 250 times safer.
Sore but Safe and Effective
Yes, you may feel a little sore for a day or two after your chiropractic adjustment. This is mainly due to the body’s process of re-adjusting itself after its period of being subluxated. As to there being any particular concern over visits to the chiropractor and the care you receive at their hands, it has been shown that there is no more risk having gone to see your friendly chiropractor for an adjustment than visiting your local general practitioner for a medical consultation.
Global risk-aware insurance companies recognise the safety of today’s chiropractic care; the premiums for malpractice insurance paid by chiropractors are a mere fraction of what medical practitioners must pay – chiropractic care is safe.
Assessment First – Treatment and Adjustments May Vary
Regardless of the adjusting technique, chiropractic care is tailored to each individual’s age, condition and spinal problem. An example of this is with children under parental guidance. Children generally have more mobile joints, and therefore, require less force in order to attain the desired effect of the adjustment.
In addition to varying the amount of force used, adjustment frequency will also be customised to the individual. Different conditions require different intensities in visit schedules. Chiropractors will tailor a specific care plan for you that takes into account a number of factors. These factors include (but are not limited to), the results of nerve function scans or x-rays, physical examination findings, what tissue is involved (eg. ligament, tendon, muscle, disc, organ), how long you have had the condition, the amount of inflammation and intensity of pain being experienced, and the presence of any unavoidable aggravating factors to your condition (eg. your occupation or degeneration).
The chiropractor evaluates each patient’s unique spinal problem and develops an individual course of care. Each visit builds on the one before. While visits may seem similar, each patient’s care is uniquely different from every other patient’s.