My son is constantly cracking his neck in my presence and I’ve been concerned about the harm he is doing to his body. I’ve felt for a long time this cannot be a normal thing for a person to consistently do. I’ve asked him repeatedly what he gets from doing it and he replies, “It feels great because it relieves pressure in my neck.”
I was researching to find articles about this situation on the Internet and I found an article at Everydayhealth.Com. which was exactly what I needed to know. The article astounded me as I read that more than 500 people suffer having a stroke after they got a chiropractic treatment for neck manipulations.
Past studies suggest neck movements can tear vertebral arteries leading to the brain and it can result in a person having a stroke.
This causes me to ponder if rock stars, gaming sports people, and other active people should be made aware of the hazards of quick jerking’s and movements of their necks. They could slowly be causing an instant tear of their vertebral arteries and possibly suffer severe consequences from their actions.
The article also stated past research studies led by the University of California, San Francisco, found that patients under the age of 60 years and had a stroke because of a vertebra artery tear, they were six times more likely to receive spinal manipulative therapy 30 days prior to patients whose strokes stemmed from other causes such as atherosclerosis.
In a newer research report published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, they conducted a study of 13 patients who had arterial tears and who had received chiropractic manipulation treatment within hours or days after their treatments; and it was discovered 31 percent of them had permanent disabilities or they had died.
In my opinion there are millions of people daily seeking the services of Chiropractic doctors and they swear the treatments do help them. I’ve never heard a person say these treatments had not been beneficial to them. Some of the people I know go to the Chiropractic doctor for adjustments every two weeks and if they have problems it could be sooner.
Dr. Wade S. Smith, MD, PhD, lead author of the UCSF study conducted in 2003 stated, “The number of chiropractic manipulations performed in the United States each year is in the millions. The incidence of stroke from all causes is only 10 per 100,000; this is not talking about large numbers of victims.”
Smith also stated, “Rare incidences do occur, and physicians and patients should be aware of spinal manipulation therapy as a rare but potentially causal factor in strokes.”
I’m going to allow my son to read this article and to remind him that he should cease and discontinue his neck cracking games or he may end up with a severe disability or death.
The writer of this article is Barbara Kasey Smith and it is based on research.
Source:
Everydayhealth.com