Just How Safe Is Chiropractic?
One of the biggest reasons that people who are unfamiliar with chiropractic care shy away from this natural healthcare treatment is concerns over safety. If you haven’t experienced chiropractic care for yourself, you may wonder if it has the potential to hurt or disfigure you, and those fears may be keeping you from seeking hands-on treatment. Here’s what you need to know about chiropractic care and its safety record to ease any fears that you may have.
Chiropractic care is considered to be one of the safest therapies available for musculoskeletal ailments. That’s because chiropractors do not rely upon expensive drugs or dangerous surgeries to attain results for their patients, instead relying upon their hands to treat a variety of conditions. Because of this, chiropractors have one of the safest records of any medical practitioners.
Chiropractors enjoy some of the lowest rates for insurance coverage of all medical professionals. That’s because the risk of malpractice (an instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a medical professional) is extremely low for chiropractors. According to Lawrence Wyatt, DC, DACBR, author of the Handbook of Clinical Chiropractic Care, via the American Chiropractic Association, “While high-risk medical specialties are paying as much as $200,000 to $250,000 and more in premiums, doctors of chiropractic, practicing a noninvasive specialty, generally have rates lower than $5,000.”
Side Effects of Chiropractic Care
Of course, there’s no such thing as completely safe medical care and this also applies to chiropractic. However, in most cases the risk is very mild. Some patients may complain of aches and pains following their initial treatment. This pain is almost always temporary and can be easily overcome with over the counter pain relievers.
One point that many chiropractic detractors bring up is that patients who receive neck adjustments may be at increased risk of a very rare type of stroke or vertebral artery dissection. However, evidence suggests that this type of injury occurs in patients who have a preexisting case of arterial disease. Furthermore, these dissections have been associated with many different types of activities that involve turning the head. While patients that suffer from this type of condition may visit a chiropractor to treat the pain of their condition, it would be inaccurate to claim that treatment is the cause of this extremely rare injury.
Your health is very important to your chiropractic team and they treasure the trust that you’ve placed in their well-trained hands. Chiropractic care is one of the safest and most effective of all healthcare treatments available and that’s why your doctor of chiropractic chose this career. If you’re still concerned about the safety of chiropractic care, why not schedule an appointment today? Your holistic team would be happy to address any concerns that you may have about this safe and natural treatment.
Always consult your chiropractor or primary care physician for all your health related advice.