Painkillers and Chiropractic treatment
The Risk of Taking Painkillers v. Chiropractic Treatment
Some important recent research into the safety of neck manipulation has shown that neck manipulation is a very low-risk treatment if performed by skilled manipulators such as chiropractors.
In fact there are more risks associated with taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAID’s), the painkillers commonly bought over the counter and regularly prescribed by doctors, such as ibuprofen and aspirin.
Sometimes painkillers can be a good complement to our treatment. In some cases we recommend our patient to go to their GP to discuss the option to take painkillers if they are in severe pain and need help to sleep.
But we recommend that you should only use them in the short term.
Look at the links below and find out how even the most common painkillers can affect you adversely, sometimes giving severe effects such as perforating stomach ulcers.
- In the USA 16,500 people die each year from the use of NSAID’s.
- Read about ‘Painkiller risk to gut revealed’ at the BBC website.
- ‘Painkillers may increase heart attack risk’
- Pregnancy and painkillers ‘Painkillers Increase Risk of Miscarriage’
- Study shows people unaware of harmful effects of painkillers.
- Recent reviews are also seriously questioning the effectiveness of using painkillers for lower back pain, especially considering the risks involved. ‘NSAIDs May Not Be Best Bet for Low Back Pain’.