Chiropractic care can have many helpful and healthy advantages over other medical treatments, approaches and pharmaceuticals. However, there are some people who cannot and should not see a chiropractor because it could worsen their conditions or cause injury. The following examples highlight which groups or people should not seek chiropractic care and why.

Patients with Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a debilitating condition that causes your bones to become very brittle. The bones in your shoulders, hips and back are especially prone to breaking when you have this disease. Since a chiropractor applies pressure to these areas of a patient's body, the chiropractor could unintentionally cause the patient with osteoporosis a lot of pain and suffering when several bones are broken all at once. If you have osteoporosis, you definitely need to refrain from chiropractic care (and most, if not all, chiropractors will not see you anyway).

Patients Who Take Blood-Thinners or Have Hemophilia

Patients on blood-thinning medications or patients who have hemophilia, a disease that causes severe bruising and internal bleeding with slight compressions or falls, should not see a chiropractor either. The pressure often applied during a spinal, hip or shoulder adjustment is enough to cause these patients some severe bleeding. Since the bleeding is under closed skin or inside the body's cavities, it cannot be stopped, nor will additional pressure stop it. Most people on blood-thinners or people with hemophilia avoid any sort of activity that could cause them to bruise and/or bleed internally. Even though chiropractic care is a medical approach and is meant to be helpful and healthy, it probably will do quite the opposite for patients who have these conditions.

Patients Who Have Bullets or Shrapnel Located Close to the Spine

If you have served in the military, have been on active duty and have shrapnel or bullets located close to your spine, you will also want to avoid chiropractic care. When a field doctor or a doctor stateside did not want to operate to try and remove these objects from your back because they were too close to your spinal cord, you do not want a chiropractor to accidentally manipulate these objects directly into your spine or through it. This is especially true if you are still able to get up and walk around and are not in a wheelchair yet. If your back pain is significantly above or significantly below the bullet/shrapnel, the chiropractor may be able to help with some tissue massage in these areas, but spinal adjustments are definitely off the table for you.

To learn more, contact a chiropractic clinic like North Pole Chiropractic.