8 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting a Chiropractor

Whenever you go in for medical treatment, there’s a risk of complications arising. But “most adverse effects from manipulation are mild and temporary,” says Zahn. Symptoms usually strike in the few days following a chiropractic adjustment, according to the Mayo Clinic, and typically include headaches, fatigue, or stiffness in the parts of the body that were treated. And not everyone responds to chiropractic treatment. “If your chiropractor has been treating you for about two weeks and nothing has changed, they should refer you somewhere else and not continue to treat you,” says Spreiter. 

In rare cases, adjustments can also make a condition worse, according to the NLM. Spine and rib fractures can occur, says Zahn, and although uncommon, neck adjustments can damage blood vessels, a.k.a. vertebral artery dissection, or cause strokes. (That may be what happened in the death of Snapchat star Katie May early last year.) “Vertebral artery dissection occurs in 1 in 100,000 people, and it’s usually the result of trauma causing rapid twisting of the neck,” says Achal Achrol, M.D., director of neurovascular surgery and neurocritical care at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “Chiropractic neck manipulation has been shown to increase the risk by six to 10-fold.” 

Obviously, the best way to avoid the risk altogether is to never allow a chiropractor or other practitioner to perform a neck manipulation: “It’s specifically the rapid twisting motion that places the patient at unnecessary risk without a proven benefit,” says Achrol.