Chiropractic treatment is very common now. It is not out of the ordinary to hear a close friend or family member making an appointment with a chiropractor in order to help lessen various aches and pains. According to the American Chiropractic Association, nearly 20 million people seek relief in a chiropractor’s office each year.
An experienced chiropractor will spend time determining why someone is experiencing such poor health and offer a treatment plan designed to address those specific symptoms. The examination should include sitting down and listening to the patient, taking an appropriate medical history, and often means taking and reviewing x-rays as well. The treatment may also involve physical manipulation of various body parts. For example, spinal misalignments can be a major cause of a person’s pain and spinal manipulations are designed to address these problems.
While millions of people visit their chiropractor successfully on a regular, on occasion, things can and do go very wrong. Improper adjustment techniques can cause nerve damage, slipped disks, broken ribs, neurological damage, neck injuries, vertigo, and facial paralysis. In addition, a serious complication that can occur after spinal manipulation is a stroke. Manipulations of the cervical region of the neck/back can cause a pinching or tearing of the arteries that direct blood to your brain. If an artery to the brain becomes blocked or ruptures by a clot that has been stretched or from a rotation of the cervical spine, this could lead to a stroke.
A stroke can be very serious. It can lead to long-term brain damage, debilitating muscle weakness, and even death. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms after a chiropractic visit, let your doctor know immediately: weakness, sudden numbness or paralysis on one side of your body including your face; dizziness, loss of balance and coordination; stiff neck and pain around your eyes; vomiting, severe headache and difficulty with speaking or writing; confusion, memory problems, spacial and perception issues. It is possible that there could be a delay of many days between your chiropractic visit and the onset of symptoms.
Fortunately, strokes are a rare complication from chiropractic manipulations. However, they do occur, especially during those occasions when a chiropractor doesn’t use the appropriate amount of force or has the patient in the wrong position during his treatment.
If you think that you could be the victim of chiropractic treatment errors or malpractice, you should speak to a medical malpractice lawyer Memphis, TN turns to in these types of cases.
Thanks to our friends and contributors at Wiseman Bray PLLC who have significant experience helping victims of medical malpractice and chiropractic malpractice.