How Safe is Chiropractic?

How Safe is Chiropractic?

Spinal manipulation has been practiced safely throughout the world for thousands of years. Hippocrates, who is known as the ‘father of all doctors’ and author of the Hippocratic oath, applauded chiropractic methods in his famous medical writings. The birth of chiropractic in the U.S. occurred in 1895 when D.D. Palmer, a magnetic healer in Davenport, Iowa, performed the first chiropractic adjustment on misaligned vertebre in the neck of Harvey Lillard, restoring his hearing. Recent studies of this ancient healing technique show that chiropractic care carries low risks compared to traditional forms of treatment such as spinal surgery and anti-inflammatory drug therapy. The risk of serious complications from lumbar (lower back) manipulation is estimated at 1 in 100 million. The risk for cervical (neck) manipulation was estimated to be 6.4 in 10 million. Not only is chiropractic safe, but it is also effective. In a study by the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention of those patients using chiropractic care, 81% felt it cured or considerably relieved their symptoms. In 1994, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, validated the effectiveness of spinal manipulation for acute low back problems and recommended chiropractic techniques be used instead of prescription drugs, surgery or other high-cost, high-tech procedures.