Today’s article centers around the question “Are Neck Adjustments Safe?”. I don’t get asked this question nearly as much as I used to. I believe the general population, along with Medical professionals, have realized that neck adjustments are not only safe but also very effective. I would like to still address this topic because I’m sure there are some people still on the fence about receiving chiropractic care because they’re unsure about the safety of neck adjustments.

Published Studies On Safety

In 2007, the medical journal Spine published a study. In this study the researchers obtained data from over 50,000 cervical spine adjustments and determined there were NO serious adverse events following the adjustments. They found that “the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment was low to very low”. Additionally, researchers stated “risk rates described in this study compared favorably to those linked to drugs routinely prescribed for musculoskeletal conditions in general practice”.

Basically, they concluded that a cervical spine adjustment is at least, if not more, safe than the medication you would receive from your primary care physician for neck pain. If you are interested in the article in full it can be found in Spine Volume 32, Number 21, pp 2375-2378 @2007.

Gentle Adjustments

Neck adjustments are performed in a very gentle and specific manner to get the most efficient results possible for the patient. Chiropractors have different techniques that depend on the person receiving the adjustment. For example, we adjust an infant very differently than we would a 25 year-old athlete. We adjust our 95 year-old patients differently than we do our teenage patients.

It is great to see the Medical community finally understanding and endorsing what chiropractors have been teaching since the late 1800’s. I have been practicing for over 8 years in Chicago, with the last 5.5 years at our Sauganash location; I have personally performed over 20,000 neck adjustments with no negative side effects! Chiropractic works, let me show you how!

Your Turn

Have you heard about the safety of neck adjustments? We’d love to hear from, leave comments below!