What are the Risks of Chiropractic Neck Adjustments?

From time to time, news items have reported on the supposed risks of chiropractic manipulation to the neck. As a practicing chiropractor who uses neck manipulation everyday in my practice, I find these reports exaggerated and alarmist. I’ve been in practice for over 12 years, and I’ve personally performed well over 15,000 neck adjustments without a single serious complication that I am aware of. I often perform neck adjustments on my friends, family and loved ones, and often receive them myself from colleagues. Based on the available scientific evidence and my past clinical experience, I’m personally convinced that neck adjustments are a very safe and very effective form of treatment. Clearly, the risks of neck manipulation are not as extreme as some of the more irresponsible reports imply. Stroke and Neck Manipulation Criticisms regarding the safety of chiropractic neck treatments usually focus on the remote risk of a stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurring as a result of the treatment. The most likely mechanism of strok