In the course of being treated by a doctor of chiropractic for spinal derangement or subluxations, certain reactions may be experienced by the patient receiving the chiropractic adjustment.
Reactions following a chiropractic adjustment vary greatly from person to person. These may range from a great sense of exhilaration immediately following the adjustment, to a feeling of aching and soreness.
The most common reaction to spinal manipulation is aching or soreness in the spinal joints or muscles. If this aching or soreness occurs, it is usually within the first few hours post-treatment and does not last longer than 24 hours after the chiropractic adjustment. An ice pack often reduces the symptoms of this chiropractic technique more quickly.
Possible Side Effects of a Neck Adjustment
On the most extreme side of chiropractic-related problems, vascular accidents have been reported and critics of chiropractic medicine use this by recommending no spinal manipulation of the cervical spine. One possible serious complication of chiropractic neck manipulation is a vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke.1
See Chiropractic Manipulation for the Cervical Spine
The alleged association between and chiropractic visits was recently compared and contrasted with primary care physician (PCP) visits and vertebrobasilar articery stroke. According to the authors of this particular study:
In This Article:
- Reactions Following a Chiropractic Adjustment
- What to Expect At Your First Chiropractic Visit Video
Critics of cervical manipulation emphasize the possibility of serious injury, especially to the brain stem. While this is a possibility, documented reports of the incidence of this are very rare.
While no studies have been done to determine the actual rate of stroke following chiropractic neck manipulation, several authors have reported a very infrequent incidence rate of vascular accidents during chiropractic adjustment treatments that include statements such as, "there is probably less than one death of this nature out of several tens-of-millions of manipulations."3 Similar low risk of cervical manipulation problems after a chiropractic visit is reported by others.4 ,5 ,6
In the hands of experienced chiropractors, cervical manipulation usually renders beneficial results with few adverse side effects.
With that in mind, discussion concerning reactions to spinal manipulation from the chiropractor is encouraged between the patient and the treating doctor. Obtaining consent for chiropractic adjustment is recommended in writing once questions are addressed by the chiropractor.
