If a Chiropractor “Cracks your Neck”, can it Cause a Stroke?

In Tennessee and all across the country, many people may experience pain or discomfort in their necks and they often seek treatment from a chiropractor for these injuries. As treatment often chiropractors will perform a “neck manipulation or neck neck adjustment” This process often includes “cracking the patients neck”. We have handled chiropractic malpractice cases where we believe this procedure caused a stroke and permanent damage to the patient. There is now additional studies which appears to support the link between chiropractic neck manipulation and a stroke.

Specifically, according to recent reports, over five hundred people have had a stroke after cracking their necks or having neck manipulation. A study that was conducted in the past hints that neck manipulation can cause vertebral arteries connected to the brain to tear causing a stroke. Additional research has discovered that patients who were less than sixty years of age who suffered strokes due to vertebral arteries being torn are six times more likely to have received manipulative therapy in the thirty days prior to the stroke. Other recent research studied thirteen patients who had arterial tears after a couple hours or days after seeing a chiropractor. According to the study, thirty-one percent suffered a permanent disability or even death.

Over an estimated eighteen million people in this country receive care from chiropractors according to a survey conducted in 2007. Wade S. Smith, MD, PhD, lead author of the UCSF study from 2003, stated that, “The incidence of stroke from all causes is only 10 per 100,000, so we’re not talking about large numbers of victims. But rare incidences do happen, and physicians and patients should be aware of spinal manipulation therapy as a rare but potentially causal factor in stroke.”

People all across the country receive chiropractic care, even many people right here in Tennessee. If you or someone you know has received chiropractic care and then suffered a stroke or another serious injury as a result, then we encourage you to speak to one of our compassionate and experienced Tennessee Chiropractor Malpractice Attorneys immediately. We care about our clients and will work with you to see to it that you receive the compensation you need for what you have been through.