Is chiropractic even safe?
I recently stumbled upon a TikTok video of an emergency room doctor warning people against seeing a chiropractor, in particular allowing a chiropractor to adjust your neck. He went on to share that in his practice he sees patients with strokes caused by chiropractors "all the time" and that it is a fear among his colleagues. To say I was "triggered" would be putting it nicely.
I started working as an RN in 1998. During my career, I worked in a number of hospitals in a number of departments. One travel assignment took me to a large teaching hospital in Rochester where I worked on a floor dedicated to caring for people who had suffered from strokes and other neurological diseases; during my time there I didn't experience meeting or caring for anyone who had suffered a stroke at the hands of a chiropractor. Later on, fate lead me to become an emergency room nurse. I worked in small rural hospitals as well as bigger trauma centers. Just as before, during my time working in that setting, I can't say that I met, cared for, or even heard a story about a patient coming in with a stroke after getting adjusted.
I shared this on his video and a debate ensued. He was adamant that chiropractors are quacks and a danger to the public and cited a statistic that 1 in 20,000 people suffer from strokes caused by chiropractors annually...this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, the reason was this "fact" was the first thing to pop up from searching "how common are strokes by chiropractors". The fact that this statistic was a quote from a neurologist who failed to give any sort of reference for where this number came from was also infuriating; infuriating because it was bad information and in the context in which it was presented it could easily lead people (including this doctor who should know better) to believe false information.
The fact of the matter is that chiropractic care is very safe. According to the Canadian Association Medical Journal the incidence of stroke following a cervical (neck) adjustment is anywhere between 1 in 500,000-1 in a million. Another peer-reviewed journal stated that based off chiropractic malpractice claims, the incidence of stroke due to chiropractic adjustments is actually closer to 1 in 5.85 million.
So let's talk about safety. To answer the question he posed to me, "Is chiropractic safe" I would have to say yes! Like with anything else in life there are risks and rewards and in the case of chiropractic, the rewards well outweigh the risks.
In my opinion, the biggest risk of injury with chiropractic care is sprains/strains. I often meet people who tell me "It freaks me out to have my neck adjusted" and I totally get that, if I am being honest I sometimes have a hard time relaxing enough to get my neck adjusted. In that case instrument adjusting is a better option for you. The reason is when you are tense (when your nervous system picks up that you could be in danger) your muscles will tighten in an effort to protect yourself or run (fight or flight). Most chiropractors can pick up on this feeling and will change how they adjust however some may try to adjust through the tension which can injury both the patient and the chiropractor. I use the analogy of "it would be similar to me asking you to flex your bicep then I try with all my might to straighten your arm".
The beauty of chiropractic care is that there is a wide variety of techniques that range from the lightest of force to what people traditionally think of when it comes to chiropractic...lots of "pops and cracks".
So, I urge you, if you are even the slightest bit apprehensive about getting adjusted talk to your chiropractor and ask lots of questions. The benefits of chiropractic care far outweigh any risks and I promise that there is a technique out there that will suit anyone.
Feel free to message me with any questions and I would be happy to help you find a provider/technique that best suits your needs!
Kapral MK, Bondy SJ. Cervical manipulation and risk of stroke. CMAJ. 2001 Oct 2;165(7):907-8. PMID: 11599330; PMCID: PMC81499.
Church EW, Sieg EP, Zalatimo O, Hussain NS, Glantz M, Harbaugh RE. Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Chiropractic Care and Cervical Artery Dissection: No Evidence for Causation. Cureus. 2016 Feb 16;8(2):e498. doi: 10.7759/cureus.498. PMID: 27014532; PMCID: PMC4794386.
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