Stroke and Chiropractors

@DoctorSJ: Oh shut up, there's a risk with driving a car, people still do it. It's called acceptable risk. Do you think there is zero risk when performing surgery? No! There is a chance of DEATH with surgery. Do not be so naiive because media plays up the issue. Chiro has saved many people unbearable pain.

I suffered a VAD at the hands of a chiropractor at the age of 22.

The chiropractor did the upper neck adjustment 3 times! Not sure why but for him I guess you keep "adjusting" until you get a pop.

Thanks for sharing

@AndrewBlock: ALL and I mean ALL chiropractors are frauds! They claim to use "evidence based medical techniques" which is another fallacy. There's a growing number of chiropractors who claim to use nutrition and dispense herbs and supplements to "cure" a plethora of diseases. Food cures nothing! A good diet is essential for everyone, but claiming that food cures diseases? Oh! GIVE ME A BREAK! Many herbal supplements can be downright dangerous. More dangerous than even some prescription medications. Taking a multivitamin is pretty much the norm for supplemental intake. Coq10 is even recommended by many medical doctors as a good supplement for sustaining heart health. If you want sound medical advice go to an md. Science based medical treatments are the ONLY ones that provide authentic results. Don't be fooled by alarmists like Mike Adams who operates the Natural News website. Adams is a self proclaimed "expert" in the field of "natural cures." The alarming tales he has on his site are virtually all fallacies and downright dangerous to your health. Listen to your MD. Chiropractors like to pretend that they're "men and women of science." Would you go to a fortune teller for your health concerns? it's really no different than going to a chiropractor. They'll both scam you BIG TIME!

Thank God for chiropractors!

This was an eye opener. Thanks for putting this info out there.

This was an eye opener. Thanks for putting this info out there.

I am a 33 year old female in good health. I have been adjusted numerous times in the past. October 4th 2012 I had a stroke in the chiropractors office, was ambulanced to ER where I continued to have several small strokes from clots that were released in the cerabellum(? not sure if that's spelled right). MRI/MRA revealed I had a dissection in the back right artery. EVERY Dr I have seen since in the ER as well as internal med Dr. and neurologist have all confirmed it was from the manipulation. I am ok now but will have some small lasting effects with speech and memory for some time, maybe forever. Both arteries have been compromised and Im at high risk for a major stroke if anything happens to my neck like a car accident etc... My advice would be seek chiro maybe for other problems but protect your neck by stengthening muscles with a physical therapist who does not manipulate with that kind of force.

I am a 37 yr old female with a 8 yr old and 17 yr old I had a stroke in my chiropractors office july 17th 2012 after a neck manipulation left in an ambulance after being misdiagnosed for 12 hours by the chiropractor ambulance and hospital er I spent 14 days in icu stroke trauma center I am now at a total loss for information nothing i am told about my condition is black and white~! feeling powerless and lost I have always been just a strong independent women.If anything could come of this I hope It is awareness for others oxox

@Skeeeeeetz: I already made a comment but just want'ed to make a statement on this . on all my reports from the stroke trauma center it states trauma induced stroke caused by a tear .NOT a RUPTURE.THE FACT i LEFT THE CHIROPRACTOR IN A AMBULANCE is proof enough

Interesting information. Hope your recovery continues.

I am sorry for your condition, but this absolutely a lie

Chiropractic has always helped me so I never considered it could cause a stroke. A lot to think about.

Great post On Chiropractor Stroke. Very informative lens.

As a Chiropractor I want to thank you for providing a forum of discussion for such a hot topic. It is terribly unfortunate what you went through and I am happy to hear about your recovery. You have done a lot of research and if you are open to it, I'd like to share some of my knowledge with you. Most of the time it comes down to patient education and the Doctor being able to properly recognize the signs of stroke, it's been proved that Chiropractors are not causing strokes, rather they have mismanaged the instances when patients have presented with a stroke. That's a human error, not a Chiropractic error. This is from an article on my page:

"This scientific study shows that past assumptions attempting to relate chiropractic care with certain types of strokes were not due to the care, but rather to the fact that the people who went to chiropractors and medical doctors with certain types of problems were slightly more likely to suffer this type of problem anyway. Dr. Silver explained, "The association occurs because patients tend to seek care when they're having neck pain or headache, and sometimes they go to a chiropractor, sometimes they go to a physician. But we didn't see an increased likelihood of them having this type of stroke after seeing a chiropractor."

( http://www.squidoo.com/LifeChiropractic) will give you more info.

Looking forward to discussing this with you further.

No one should have a stroke at any time whether using Chiropractors or not. That is if you follow the advice of Dr.Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. See his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease also see The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD.

Thank you for doing this! I had been going to my chiropractor for over 10 years when a neck manipulation caused my stroke. I have met many people since this happened who have had a similar situation, More people need to be aware of this!

Very informative lens. I hope you have continued to be living a life of recovery. Thanks for sharing your story.

Great hub. This is super complete list with all the modules. Will give everyone the ideas about this topic. Thanks for sharing!

chiropractor north sydney

Alan

Please all you Chiros trying to defend a practice that has no basis in anything other than in your minds, sublexation is a theory never proven to do anything, placebo effect is as high as 60%, you could hit ur victims in the head with a bag o crap and cure them. If you wanted to be a real health care provider should have went to MD school, but I bet you tired that. I have never met a person that stated they wanted to grow up and be a chiro and I have never heard of anyone not being admitted to chiro schools. On top of that, when you look at chiro bios, most are hacks that went to little know colleges and might have graduated, then after boucing around at various jobs decided on chiro school or should i say 'learn how to bill medicare/caid school'. Chiros stick to your fring pseudo science and sleep in the bed u made.

This is very good information, but you didn't write nothing about chiropractor salary. For more information about chiropractor salary visit site

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Because of the complicated issues surrounding making a compensation claim against a chiropractor, solicitors have to be able to provide their clients with accurate Chiropractor Solicitor

@Skeeeeeetz: I've been finding much relief so far. Hopefully I will become pain-free. I do think that chiropractic care is not for everyone or for every back pain condition, but for me the benefits outweighted the potential risks. I don't think that there is anything wrong with informing the public about the risks and to push for chiropractors to admit that they do exist. The risks are not going to stop someone from seeing a chiropractor if they are on the verge of suicide because of the pain. Besides you can always tell your chiropractor not to do the cervical neck adjustment. Chiropractors, just think of it this way, you get paid the same amount for doing less work, how can you possibly complain about that? I wouldn't. Anyway, thanks Skeeeeeetz for indulging my curiosity, and you take care.

@Skeeeeeetz: Did you sue? I think that I had to sign a waiver saying that I understood the risks of treatment--although I'm not too certain as the pain was screwing with my memory function... Either way, I agree that you should have been made aware of the risks envolved. Sorry if I'm bothering you, I've seen your posts on yahoo! answers when searching for back pain ideas and I got curious about your situation. It must have been a terrifying.

@Skeeeeeetz: "three-times a week for a year and a half"

That is really excessive... If you don't mind me asking what where you seeing him for? No ethical chiropractor is going to have you in his care that much for that long. My body and spine was so twisted from a car accident that I was almost paralyzed and I still didn't see my chiropractor that often.

I am very sorry that this happened to you and I wish you continued success in your recovery. I am currently seeing a chiropractor and while I won't stop seeing him, I was wondering what your thoughts were on an alternative to a musculoskeletal injury that will only respond to manipulative therapy? I live in the states so there are very few osteopaths that practice manipulative medicine and my PT wouldn't touch me.

Nice post about chiropractic treatment and service from chiropractor. As a chiropractor I like it because it is a natural method to relief from nerve related problems and free from side effects.

I have read your content all of are informative and useful. You not a chiropractor but you have add a more about chiropractic. Congratulation.

Thanks for sharing good lens.

I'll start by admitting to a bias, I am a chiropractor. I feel badly that you had a stroke which you attribute to a chiropractic adjustment, and I wanted to clear the air from a liberal chiropractic perspective. I would never say that the possibility of stroke is impossible. In fact, I warn my patients that there is indeed a risk. The risk however has been studied to be less than 1 in 1,000,000 cervical diversified patient visits. As a chiropractor, any technique I use on my patients, has been used on me during the learning process. If there was a risk of stroke that was tangible, I would not let someone perform this maneuver on me. Also, the incidence of stroke with a chiropractic adjustment has proven to be less than the incidence following aspirin injestion or a shampooing at a salon. Unfortunately, it is my belief that because many chiropractors simply adjust patients regardless of the problem, they might be taking poor histories and doing poor exams. I think many of the people who "get a stroke from an adjustment", were actually presenting to the chiropractor with symptoms of a stroke already under way. Due to unfocused interview techniques, it's very likely that an off focused chiropractor would miss this important diagnosis. This leaves the patient thinking one thing, "the adjustment must have caused the stroke, because I didn't have it before I went in." Let me give some of the warning signs of stroke for anyone on here who is concerned they are at risk. First and foremost, middle aged women are most likely to have an artery dissection, not elderly folks. If you are having "the worst headache ever", or a chronic headache in the same area of the head every time it is possible you are suffering from the warning signs of stroke. Blacking out, passing out, and total memory losses are obvious reasons a responsible chiropractor would send you immediately to a hospital for further testing. Lastly, if your vision is impaired and you are experiencing intense dull or pulsing neck pain, you should report to the emergency room. I hope this was helpful in dispelling some of the concerned with a chiropractic adjustment. I would be happy to answer any questions or comments any readers of this blog have regarding what I have said here.

[in reply to Skeeeeeetz]

The contradicting study you cited was 6 years old. The one I used was 1 year old. The vast majority of "research" listed on those chiropractic-induced stroke websites is 10 years old. We want to look to the current literature. This is the only way to progress in academia and get the truth. I know if someone close to me had a stroke, I would look very diligently to determine what caused it, so I do feel for you. I'm sure you don't have an agenda, but I believe that you were misled somewhere along the way by people who do have an anti-chiropractic agenda. I can't understand how you can devote so much time and energy to something you can't possibly know for sure even caused your stroke. You are entitled to your opinion, but this isn't an opinion matter. This is research and data. The danger is that your efforts are scaring people, who could potentially experience the only relief they've ever had in their lives, from receiving safe, effective treatment.

Scott,

Thank you for helping to spread the word. I will post your personal story on www.VertebralArteryDissection.com and include a link to your site there as well.

Any additional information you share will be helpful as I am soon beginning a campaign of press releases in addition to the site.

After three years, I have been contacted by sooo many people who've had VAD and now even neurologists and other specialists are starting to contact me. I consider it to be great progress.

Keep up the great work.

Chris

Nice job, Babe. I know this is important to you.

There are lots of people who have had strokes following chiropractic neck manipulations. One case well documented recently is that of Sandy Nette. Her website is http://sandynette.com . Her story is truly heartbreaking.

As a former chiropractor myself, a graduate of Life University in Marietta, Georgia, I can tell you that chiropractic is quackery, pure and simple. The evidence for chiropractic treatment is lacking but the risk of stroke is real. Some chiropractors routinely manipulate necks on ALL patients. At my chiropractic college, we were taught to do this to "correct" imaginary subluxations (the lesion chiropractors claim to treat which has never been shown to exist).

Any neck manipulations -- if they are ever truly a good option -- should be done by a healthcare provider trained in science (PT, MD, DO, etc.) because the other real problem with chiropractors is that they are not properly trained in medical diagnosis, and might not REFER you to a real doctor when CRITICAL.