Safety and Side Effects

Chiropractic adjustments, when delivered by properly trained and registered chiropractors, are very safe. Especially when compared with medical care approaches that use drugs or surgery for similar conditions.

There has been some concern that adjustments to the cervical spine may be involved in causing a form of stroke known as vertebrobasilar insufficiency. The incidences have been very rare, and is estimated to be in the region of 1 in 500 000, to 1 in 1 million neck adjustments. The difficulty is that it is such a rare event following manipulative therapy, no one is certain that the adjustment actually causes the stroke, or if it is coincidentally given at the time a stroke is in progress.

There are approximately 150,000 strokes per year in the UK, resulting in 60,000 deaths. Stroke is the third leading cause of death.
Symptoms of a stroke developing will include neck pain, stiffness and headache, which are common to many conditions presenting to a chiropractic office. Carotid artery dissection is a common form of stroke estimated to be 2-5 per 100,000.

Use this link for more in-depth discussion on safety.
2008 Study looking at chiropractic and stroke compared to medical consultation.

Our initial assessment reviews all aspects of your health, including blood pressure, weight, height, case history and medical conditions so that we may determine whether chiropractic care is appropriate. We will not begin care unless we are confident no harm will result.