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October 02, 2007

Spinal Manipulation Therapy

A friend recently asked about spinal manipulation and chiropractors. Cortlandt Forum had a summary of the evidence.

One of the articles they cite is a metaanalysis of RCTs on acupuncture, massage and spinal manipulation for back pain. Another article in the same issue drew a similar conclusion.

What is most interesting is the risk of harm. "The most common serious adverse events are vertebrobasilar accidents, disk herniation, and cauda equina syndrome. Estimates of the incidence of serious complications range from 1 per 2 million manipulations to 1 per 400,000. Given the popularity of spinal manipulation, its safety requires rigorous investigation." (from Am J Med)

It seems that chiropractic is being held to a different standard of first doing no harm.

| By Robert Maddox | 01:11 PM

Comments

Amen! First do no harm--a different standard for chiropractic. And the bull was a stand-in for Jesus--I'll have to reread the story. Thanks! Chuck PS: In '121 Ways to Live to 121' the first two are 'Don't get sick,' and 'Don't die,' and the third and fourth, written by a doctor, are ... 'Avoid doctors,' and 'Avoid hospitals.' I however, would go more for a www.rayandterry.com approach.

Posted by: Chuck Hartman at October 10, 2007 12:32 AM

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