Why Wasn’t Your Chiropractic Stroke Immediately Obvious?

After a patient receives an upper neck adjustment from a chiropractor, hours, days or even weeks may pass before the patient suffers a stroke. Some patients experience immediate symptoms from the excessive twisting or rotating of their head, but most do not. It’s more likely that an injury is not readily apparent.

You have come to this Web site seeking to understand whether your stroke was caused by a chiropractic manipulation and why your injury wasn’t obvious when you departed  the chiropractor’s office. You’ve come to the right place because the Abelson Law Firm is dedicated to helping chiropractic stroke victims.

We want you to understand how your injury occurred, and why it wasn’t readily apparent. If you suspect that your stroke was related to chiropractic treatment, talk to a lawyer knowledgeable about chiropractic stroke injuries. Contact us at 1-888-797-4242 or fill out our online form.  The Abelson Law Firm works with a board certified physician who will determine the extent of your injuries due to chiropractic manipulation, and the your future health care needs as a result.

The manipulation of the first and second vertebrae below the skull can cause trauma to the blood vessels and tissues in the area. It can cause a tiny tear called a dissection in the lining of the vertebral or carotid arteries—the big arteries that supply blood to the brain. That tear causes a slow bleed that forms an internal scab or blood clot. Parts of that blood clot may eventually break loose hours, days or perhaps weeks later. The clot can move in the bloodstream toward the brain and create a blockage in the brain stem, cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres, causing a stroke. Again, the stroke may not occur until days or weeks after the trauma caused by the chiropractor. Because of this delay, most people don’t readily associate their stroke symptoms with the visit to the chiropractor.

Unfortunately, chiropractors are not held to the same reporting standards as medical doctors. There is no standardized reporting of strokes occurring after upper neck manipulations so it is difficult to accurately state how many strokes occur after chiropractor treatment. Because of the delay from a chiropractor treatment to the onset of stroke symptoms, the link between chiropractic cervical neck manipulation and strokes is significantly underreported.

A group of 60 Canadian neurologists issued a warning to make Canadians aware that upper neck manipulation can cause neurological damage that can be debilitating or fatal. The group noted that data published by the Canadian Stroke Consortium indicated “more than 100 cases of dissection per year are associated with neck manipulation.”

If you suspect that you or a loved one has suffered a stroke as a result of a chiropractic neck adjustment, contact an attorney with experience in chiropractic malpractice. The Abelson Law Firm has offices in Washington, D.C.  and takes cases of chiropractic malpractice from across the country. We focus upon chiropractic malpractice because we care about chiropractic stroke victims. For a free consultation, call 1-888-797-4242 or fill out our online form.