subject: Is Chiropractic Care Dangerous? [print this page] Critics of chiropractic often claim that the methods and techniques used by chiropractic doctors are intrinsically dangerous and can cause harm to patients. Years ago, the method was generally viewed as a pseudo-science and not a valid form of therapy. In recent years, however, chiropractic care has earned its credentials and is beginning to be seen by a great number of people, including those who visit a Sunrise chiropractic doctor, as a valid and pragmatic form of therapy for people who suffer from chronic pain, or who may need rehabilitative therapy for joints and muscles in various parts of the body.
Still, there are criticisms out there, some of them a number of years old and already well refuted, that chiropractic care is dangerous. A particular claim made by some critics is that manipulation of the neck can cause patients to suffer from stroke. If this were the case, however, it is likely that we would see evidence of it, and there is virtually none. All doctors and practitioners obviously claim that chiropractic is safe, and the statistics tend to back up this claim. Some insurance companies now pay for chiropractic, and a number of medical professionals recommend it along with physical therapy as alternative solutions for the treatment of osteopathic injuries before resorting to surgery.
Recent studies in the United Kingdom published in a peer review journal have strongly suggested that chiropractic does not indicate any serious side effects or risk to the health of patients. After considering the results of more than 19,000 patients who were given neck manipulation therapy, the researchers reviewed over 15,000 of them to find out how many had reported any kind of serious effects, such as needing to be sent to triage, or to further care in a hospital, or any kind of worsening of symptoms immediately after being treated. The researchers wrote, "There were no reports of serious adverse events."
The basic pragmatic objective of Sunrise chiropractic care is to align your vertebrae and spine in a way that allows the nervous system to operate at its optimal level. Although there are different kinds of chiropractors, as in anything, it's likely that Sunrise chiropractic doctors will seek your whole health and wellness through the techniques used to properly align the spine and reduce tension in the musculoskeletal system.
On the other hand, many chiropractors, either publically or privately, wonder about the safety of a medical model that focuses strictly on symptoms and uses methods such as prescription drugs in order to merely resolve symptoms. A better question, many contend, is to ask if Western medicine as practiced today is safe, not to challenge chiropractic.
