If you've ever looked into chiropractic care in Duluth, but you haven't gone through with it, there's a good chance it's because you have questions about safety.
You've probably asked friends and family if they've been adjusted by a chiropractor or looked online and found mixed reviews. However, chiropractic care is recognized by the American Medical Association, the Mayo Clinic, and other traditional medical institutions as a safe and effective form of treatment. Chiropractic care is an excellent alternative to opioids and invasive therapies, like surgery, to treat back pain, neck pain, joint pain, and many other medical conditions.
When performed by a licensed and certified practitioner, chiropractic manipulation is safe and has few potential side effects. But remember, no treatment is perfect for everyone.
In the article below, we will look into the safety and benefits of chiropractic care in Duluth, GA.
Table Of Contents:
- How Safe Is Chiropractic Care?
- Benefits of Chiropractic Adjustments
- What Are the Risks of Chiropractic Care?
- Science Supporting Chiropractic Care
- Contact Arrowhead Clinic in Duluth, GA
How Safe Is Chiropractic Care?
Less than one patient visit per million experiences a severe adverse event during spinal manipulation. Patients are far more at risk when they visit a healthcare provider who prescribes pain medication for their back pain. Medicines like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or prescription painkillers have worse side effects.
Muscle soreness and stiffness can occur shortly after chiropractic treatment in some patients. However, this is common and similar to the soreness you would experience after a workout. The soreness will typically resolve itself within 24 to 48 hours.
Chiropractors will go over your medical history and any pre-existing conditions since there may be situations where it's in your best interest to modify the treatment approach.
Benefits of Chiropractic Adjustments
Many people visit a chiropractor to alleviate their knee, shoulder, back, and neck pain. And while cervical spine manipulation and other adjustment methods are great for pain relief, that isn't the only benefit of seeking chiropractic treatment.
Here are just a few of the benefits you stand to gain when you use manipulative therapy:
- Pain Relief
- A Boosted Immune System
- Improved Mood
- Less Nasal Congestion
- Improved Flexibility and Range of Motion
- Increased Joint Mobility and Less Joint Pain
- Better Digestion
- Improved Blood Circulation
- Better Sleep
- Less Stress
- Improved Athletic Performance
People generally seek out chiropractic medical treatment after:
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Workplace Injuries
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Sciatica
- Slip and Fall Accidents
- Sports Injuries
- Neck Pain
- Back Pain
- Numbness or Tingling in the Hands and Feet
- Chronic Low-Back Pain
Some people receive chiropractic procedures as an ongoing treatment as preventative healthcare even when they aren't experiencing symptoms.
What Are the Risks of Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic care is an effective treatment that doesn't involve the use of drugs or surgery. Chiropractors perform chiropractic adjustments, which are physical manipulations of the spine, offering patients a safer, less risky way to treat pain and injuries.
Chiropractors use their hands to perform spinal adjustments of the back and neck. Spinal adjustments aim to improve the spine's alignment and range of motion while helping the body achieve optimal performance.
Chiropractors will sometimes use more substantial pressure when administering spinal manipulation. It depends on your injury and current health.
Doctors of Chiropractic undergo years of schooling and are required to be licensed before they can work with chiropractic patients. They must complete 4,620 total educational hours to get their degrees. That's almost 1,000 hours more than a Doctor of Physical Therapy and only 200 hours less than a Medical Doctor.
There are many precautions and safety measures in place to eliminate any adverse effects. The adverse effects associated with chiropractic care are rare when performed by a licensed and trained chiropractic expert. Overall, chiropractic adjustments are safe for treating back pain, neck pain, and headaches through spinal manipulation.
If complications do occur, they may include the worsening of a slipped or herniated disc, compression of spinal nerves, and, in rare cases, stroke. This type of stroke is caused by an arterial injury or vertebral artery dissection (artery tear) that can occur after manipulation of the neck.
The risk of stroke is extremely rare. When these injuries occur, they are more likely in patients with pre-existing conditions like severe osteoporosis, spine cancer, and bone structure abnormalities, all risk factors for stroke. If you have any of these risk factors, be sure to voice your concerns before starting spinal manipulation.
Talking about your concerns allows your chiropractor to modify their treatment approach and ensure they identify potential risks and the likelihood of worsening your condition with chiropractic manipulation. Be transparent about your current and past medical history when you visit a chiropractor for treatment.
Science Supporting Chiropractic Care
For those who need scientific evidence, several clinical trials have helped prove the effectiveness of chiropractic care.
The National Library of Medicine has published many great studies supporting chiropractic care. In 2018, a review included 17 years of studies involving spinal manipulation and mobilization. The studies investigated the effects of chiropractic treatments on chronic lower back pain. The authors concluded that the chiropractic methods were "viable" choices for pain management.
Another study took place from January 2014 to December 2020 in Ontario, Canada, where doctors integrated chiropractic services into chronic pain management. The chiropractic treatments were associated with enhanced clinical outcomes and higher patient satisfaction and reduced physician visits, use of advanced imaging, specialist referrals, and opioid prescribing.
These studies are promising, but researchers generally agree that more studies are needed to determine the ideal length and frequency of spinal manipulation and identify what injuries may benefit from specific treatments.
Contact Arrowhead Clinic in Duluth, GA
Arrowhead Clinic has provided safe and effective chiropractic treatments to their Georgia communities for more than 40 years.
Dr. Darris Gentry in our Duluth Clinic has been a practicing chiropractor for over 20 years. He did his undergrad at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and acquired his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life University.
Life University is widely recognized throughout the world as a top chiropractic institution and regularly has the highest National Board of Chiropractic Examiners exam scores in the nation.
Schedule your Free Consultation if you're ready to receive safe chiropractic treatments from Dr. Gentry at our Duluth office today.
