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Dr. Mercola
November 01 2007
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New Evidence Supports the Safety of Chiropractic Care

In a U.K. survey of more than 19,700 patients who underwent more than 50,000 cervical spine manipulations, a team of researchers have concluded that your risk of having a serious adverse event from “getting your neck cracked,” is slim to none.

The manipulation technique at the focus of this safety study was defined as the application of high-velocity/low-amplitude or mechanically assisted thrust to the cervical spine. Patients were followed, and any adverse symptoms recorded immediately, and up to seven days after treatment.

There were no reports of serious adverse events, which translates to an estimated risk of, at worst, one per 10,000 treatments.

Minor side effects, occurring either immediately after, or within seven days after treatment, were slightly more common. Some of the side effects included:

  • Fainting, dizziness, light-headedness in, at worst, 16 per 1,000 treatments

  • Headache in, at worst, 4 per 100 treatments

  • Numbness or tingling in upper limbs in, at worst, 15 per 1,000 treatments 

Sources:

Spine October 1, 2007, 32(21):2375-2378



Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:

I am an avid believer in the chiropractic philosophy, which places a strong emphasis on your body's innate healing wisdom and far less reliance on band-aids like drugs and surgery.

Chiropractic, osteopathic, and naturopathic physicians receive extensive training in the management of musculoskeletal disorders during their course of graduate healthcare training, which typically lasts from 4-6 years. Due to their comprehensive training in musculoskeletal management, numerous sources of evidence have shown that chiropractic management is much safer, and less expensive, than allopathic medical treatments, particularly for low-back pain.

One such study, published in 1993, found that chiropractic management of low-back pain is superior to allopathic medical management in terms of greater safety, greater effectiveness, and reduced cost, concluding:

"There would be highly significant cost savings if more management of LBP (low-back pain) was transferred from medical physicians to chiropractors."

Additionally, researchers have also found that chiropractic adjustments affect the chemistry of biological processes on a cellular level! And that chiropractic care can affect the basic physiological processes that influence oxidative stress and DNA repair. So there’s a whole lot more to chiropractic care than just whipping bones into place.

Like many other traditional healing methods, such as naturopathic medicine and Chinese medicine, chiropractic promotes the idea that there are certain phenomena, including spinal misalignment, which create imbalances in the normal function of your body.

These imbalances, if left in place for too long, can result in pathology of one sort or another. To manifest true healing from a disease, traditional medicine says that these imbalances must be corrected. Once this is accomplished, your body will typically heal itself. I have seen examples of this process thousands of times in my practice, using a number of different therapies, either alone or in combination, that also help to re-establish balance in the body.

One of the most powerful methods I know of to balance the function of your body involves eating healthy foods that are right for your nutritional type. When my patients implement such changes, not only do their symptoms improve, but it is also easy to find objective proof that their bodies are changing for the better.

Additionally, many researchers believe that lower back pain is often caused by psychological factors, such as an underlying emotional issue.

Dr. John Sarno also believes this to be true (as do I). He is a psychiatrist who uses mind-body techniques to treat low back patients with the worst type of back pain. His specialty is those who have already had surgery for low back pain and still have it. To me this is one tough group of patients, yet he has a greater than 80 percent success rate using techniques like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

With such successful alternatives available, there are few good reasons to turn to pharmaceutical or surgical band-aids that do nothing to treat the underlying causes of your pain, but which will undoubtedly cause you additional harm in the process.

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Community Comments ( 58 )
 		Comment on this Article
  
  
Patty D
 [ Joined on 06/07 ] [ Posted on October 15, 2007 ]
31 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
My neurosurgeon, who condemned me to a wheelchair after failed low back surgery, told me it would extremely dangerous to see a chiropractor.  Well, I figured if I was going to be in a wheelchair permanently in a few months, how could a chiro make it any worse.  I had a huge wad of scar tissue from the surgery putting pressure on my spinal cord.  I was constantly falling and the sciatica was unbearable.  Within a few months of starting chiropractic treatment, I realized I was not falling down anymore.  I almost never have sciatic pain.  I walk upright, not bent over and am even able to exercise now  I don't use a cane, the wheelchair is stuck in a closet and I rarely use my scooter anymore.  He also works on my neck where I have had a fusion and he hasn't hurt me yet.  I know some of the changes are diet related, which Dr. James put me on, but I truly believe the manipulations have either reduced the amount of scar tissue or redistributed it to where it's not pressing directly on my spinal cord.  I am a total believer in chiropractic care now and let me tell you, I went in desperation and extremely scared and skeptical.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Russ Bianchi
 [ Joined on 09/06 ]  [ Posted on October 16, 2007]
8 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Reactive protocols invariably are more expensive and have much higher health risks or bodily harm associated with them like drugs or surgery than preventative models like vetted chiropractitioners.
Mercola
  
YourSpine
 [ Joined on 11/06 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
9 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

I am so glad you have had such a positive experience with chiropractic. It comes as no surprise, as chiropractors have, for the past 112 years, relieved sickness and infirmity without the use of drugs and with the goal of avoiding surgical removal or repair of any of the body’s organs or structures. Chiropractic’s message is that the proactive care of one’s body and wise lifestyle choices are necessary to achieve health.

Interfering with the transmission of the electro-chemical signals that connect your brain, the master control system for the human organism, to every organ and cell in your body has a detrimental effect on health.

This system is so delicate and of such vital importance that the body has wisely designed in an elaborate system of protection. The skull protects the most sensitive of systems: the eyes, the mouth, the ears and most importantly, the brain. The spinal cord is guarded by your spine. This masterpiece of engineering is 24 vertebrae, each one a unique bone, that serves not only as the integral part of your neuromuscloskeletal system, giving you the unique ability to walk upright, but also has a unique set of nerves that run through it to every other system of the body through individual holes called foramen.

Chiropractors maintain the proper position of these delicate joints and the precious cargo which they protect, your nerve system. Pressure on the root nerves that leave the spine or on the brain stem can affect millions or billions of nerve fibers. Interfering with these nerve fibers can have disastrous affects on your health.

Chiropractors detect and correct the cause of this interference, allowing your body to properly self regulate, adapt and heal.

Having your spine checked regularly is a big step toward extricating yourself from the disease care system of treating symptoms. For more information or to find a chiropractor in your area, please visit www.YourSpine.com

  
  
DC4health
 [ Joined on 04/07 ] [ Posted on November 1, 2007 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Novice User

When I was 5 a chiropractor made it possible for me to breath without an inhaler, go to school without Ritalin and sleep at night without anxiety. He just said "Lets see what his body needs". He changed my life so much, that from that day on I had a new hero and knew exactly what I wanted to be.

I am a ChiropracTOR... My family lives the ChiropracTIC lifestyle. No vaccines, eat well, excercise and read our bible daily. My kids rarely get sick and miss very few days from school. I am not anti medical doctor, our Obstetrician saved my wife from death as she had HELLP syndrome. But the only thing that gave my wife relief was getting adjusted. My children were delivered by me, without gloves, in the hospital in front of the OB. They were placed on my wife and we told the nurse when it was OK for her to do what she "had to do".

The medical system is set up to dictate to you that you do not have control of your health. I have read many articles stating water is bad for you, this written by a Harvard Nephrologist. Vitamins are bad for you, written by many "Leading M.D. researchers". My practice is set up in the same line as Dr. Mercola, to educate the patient to allow them to make the best choice for self or family. Yes I have patients who vaccinate, but I have never told them "If you choose to vaccinate, you cannot be a patient here". I encourage them to do a heavy metal detox or tell them what our pediatrician does and spread out the dosages and maintian a healthy spine and nervous system.

The way I practice is not about pain, it is about the healthy nervous system. In physical therapy school they teach how to "manipulate". BJ Palmer said you can teach a monkey to manipulate, but it is the intent behind the ADJUSTMENT that allows for healing. ChiropracTORs adjust the spine to allow the body to heal itself.

If you are chiropractor seeking... find a D.C. who adjusts kids to adults. His yellow page add is not the Car accident or pain variety. GOD BLESS

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
chirocheer
 [ Joined on 08/06 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola

Amen to everything you said!  If I could give you more than 3 pts I would:)
Mercola
  
pooster
 [ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Thank you, brother. It's good to read comments from a fellow DC that is on purpose. We need you and we need each other to help this unique and very powerful profession thrive.

Mercola
  
dslvdg
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
2 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I love hearing your experience with natural healthcare.  As a chiropractor the only thing that keeps me encouraged is seeing sick people get well after years of suffering in many cases.

What discourages me is the scrutiny Medicare is taking treatening to fine and require refunds on people that do not meet their criterian for needing held. They will gladly pay 1,000s for drugs, MRIs, and surgery but will not pay one dime to help a senior citizen get a bottle of fish oil. Srewed up system.
  
  
KAC
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on October 15, 2007 ]
12 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
There are good and bad chiropractors just like good and bad doctors.  I don't like it when a chiropractor cracks your entire neck and back every 2-3 weeks.  This is termed "I want your money".  A good chiropractor will make adjustments where necessary.  I use a chiropractor who scans my back and can tell me what specific area needs work.   
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Vicki Marie
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on October 16, 2007]
5 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
KAC, you are so right. My first chiropractor was okay but he focused on one area only and manipulated that area only and did so each week. I found someone else who looks at the overall health and looks at and manipulates different areas in addition to regular trouble spots each time I go.
Mercola
  
Patty D
 [ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on October 16, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
So true KAC.  One reason I was so hesitant to go to a chiro and so skeptical was that I was sent to one in 1995 after a car accident.  He did some Xrays and then put me on an exercise bike for an hour.  I never did figure out how that was going to help a neck injury.  It was a "Pain Clinic".  The MD there threw a fit because I refused prescriptions for pain killers and muscle relaxants. (He is now in jail for a very long time for illegally distributing narcotics).  After  few weeks, I realized they were ALL quacks in that clinic and quit going, so I was extremely distrustful of chiropractors.
Mercola
  
foxtroter
 [ Joined on 09/06 ]  [ Posted on October 16, 2007]
14 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Having been a chiropractor for nearly 30 years, I do have an opinion--hehe. Yes there are good and bad chiropractors just as there are good and bad providers in all professions. Being a good diagnostician is critical to providing good care. Whether it be an auto mechanic, an appliance repair person, a medical doctor or a chiropractor, some people are just better at figuring out what is wrong. The better the diagnostician one is, the better and faster the cure can be, providing one keeps up with all the new technologies and means of treating the condition. I find it sad that many people will go to a dentist and have a bad experience, but then look around for a better dentist, but if they have a bad experience with a chiropractor, they conclude that all chiropractors are bad.
Mercola
  
HansMassage
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
1 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

My observation is that good chiropractors take continuing education to learn improved methods. Bad chiropractors take seminars on how to sell their services at the highest profit.

Be a proactive consumer, ask about method and philosophy behind the doctors practice.  As others have commented there are methods that do not force the bones which is an archaic method of chiropractic.

Hans Albert Quistorff, LMP

Antalgic  Posture Pain Specialist
Mercola
  
pooster
 [ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on November 1, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

There is a reason for well spaced visits. If you were requested to keep braces on your teeth for longer than you "thought" was needed, would that mean the orthodontist was just after money? There is no process which does not take time. More frequent visits at the onset of chiropractic correction is warranted and needed for a positive outcome.  
Mercola
  
drdale
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on November 2, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

KAC.. I don't blame your for not understanding chiropractic, but your statement is very ignorant of the philosophy.  Do you eat well only when you are sick? Do you brush your teeth or go to a dentist only when you get cavities?  You read this site that is all about prevention, yet your comment implies that it is only good to get an adjustment when you have symptoms.  Chiropractic normalizes the function of your nervous system, which is necessary for good health.  Thats why many chiropractors use the scans you speak of.  Many stresses to your body can negatively affect your nervous system before you have any noticeable symptoms, which is why many chiropractors recommend regular chiropractic adjustments to keep your nervous system functioning optimally.

  
  
chirocheer
 [ Joined on 08/06 ] [ Posted on October 18, 2007 ]
10 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Chiropractic helps your body do what your Creator intended it to do -- heal itself.  SPECIFIC chiropractic done right is a blessing, and I believe that everyone benefits from this type of care.  Your nervous system controls EVERY other system in your body.  It makes sense that if the nervous system is working properly, all other systems will be, too (digestive, circulatory, immune, endocrine, reproductive, you get the picture).  It's treating the cause, not just the symptom.
 [ Reply ]
  
  
mmc88121
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on October 15, 2007 ]
10 Points