Is Chiropractic Care Safe In Council Bluffs IA?
Is Chiropractic Care Safe in Council Bluffs IA?
Clinic Hours
Monday: 9:00am - 1:00pm |
2:00pm - 6:00pm
Tuesday: 9:00am - 1:00pm |
2:00pm - 6:00pm
Wednesday: 9:00am - 1:00pm |
2:00pm - 6:00pm
Thursday: 9:00am - 1:00pm |
2:00pm - 6:00pm
Friday: Closed
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
Chiropractic has been around for over 120 years. It is practiced all over the world offering patients relief from pain and improving their nervous system and health without drugs or surgery. The question on many people's mind though is, how safe is it? The answer, quite safe. Doctors of Chiropractic in Council Bluffs IA are highly skilled and trained in assessing and diagnosing a patient's condition and offering them the correct adjustment to correct their subluxation.
How Safe is Chiropractic Care in Council Bluffs IA?
There are risks involved with getting adjusted just like with any procedure. The most common complaint after an adjustment is a bit of soreness which goes away quickly.
There is a slight risk of fracture with an adjustment but this can be contributed mostly to two factors.
- The first is an inexperienced chiropractor who does not set up correctly on an adjustment and puts too much force into the adjustment. This happens mostly in the thoracic spine with ribs.
- The second factor is osteoporotic patients with decreased bone density. They are more prone to fracture but a knowledgeable Chiropractor will ask questions during the exam about this and also assess how the spine looks when examining x-rays. This again becomes a matter of technique, making sure to use a high-velocity low amplitude adjustment through the facets of the joint.
The elephant in the adjusting room is a stroke. It's been in the headlines and pretty much everyone on the internet knows someone who has had a stroke after visiting their Chiropractor. There is a small risk of stroke associated with cervical manipulation. Most patients that report having a stroke after a visit to their Chiropractor were being treated for headaches or neck pain. These are some of the early symptoms of stroke and the patient was most likely already experiencing a stroke when they were adjusted.
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Research to Prove Chiropractic Care is Safe
A study done in 2008 concluded the following: "VBA (Vertebrobasilar artery) stroke is a very rare event in the population. The increased risks of VBA stroke associated with chiropractic and PCP (primary care physician) visits are likely due to patients with headache and neck pain from VBA dissection seeking care before their stroke. We found no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care compared to primary care".
Though this shows that the risk is very low, it is still present when having your neck manipulated. The risk is again lower when your Chiropractor does a specific Adjustment to your cervical spine and not simply a manipulation turning your head side to side. Again the risk can also be decreased by visiting a skilled chiropractor who is skilled at adjusting.
Though research shows Chiropractic is safe, there is one more measure of risk that patients may find interesting: malpractice insurance. One would think that if chiropractic was as dangerous as say surgery, our insurance rates would reflect that. Everyone knows that younger drivers are more costly to insure than older drivers because they are inexperienced and therefore carry a greater risk of causing damage.
A quick google search shows that the average Medical doctor can pay anywhere between and $10,000 and $50,000 per year for malpractice insurance depending on their specialty. Chiropractic malpractice insurance is much cheaper.
My own personal malpractice insurance is only $2 more per month than the insurance on my car. It's under $90 per month. We all know that insurance companies want to make money, but if Chiropractic was as dangerous as some people claim, there would be no way they could if they charged less than $100 per month and had to pay out claims because of injuries.
In conclusion, no health intervention is without risk. The risk with Chiropractic, however, is quite small. The research and the money show it. As always, Have a Well-Adjusted Day.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Chiropractor,
Dr. Nate