Can chiropractic care affect vision? With, specifically in their field of intervention, cervical manipulations, the chiropractor is a specialist in the neuro-musculoskeletal system. As such, the manipulations can sometimes be accompanied by side effects. This case study from a team at the University of Michigan documents a rare side effect: vision problems and bleeding in the eyes. This case study documented in the American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports does not suggest any risk rating for this isolated effect.
For those who are used to "being manipulated" by a chiropractor, the study nevertheless has the interest of informing of the existence, now documented, of this side effect of ocular stress, associated here with a high-speed neck manipulation. A possible but rare risk, says Dr. Yannis Paulus, retina specialist and lead author of the study.
The forceful thrusts and rotations sometimes performed during neck manipulations are here associated with damage to the blood vessels of the retina. Abnormal bleeding in the eye which can also cause loss of vision. This case is thus documented in a 59-year-old woman who had seen a spot in the shape of a “tadpole” when returning home after a visit to her chiropractor. His sight had worsened the following day. The patient's vision then only returned to normal 2 weeks later without further manipulation.
Explanation: Because the cells of the retina are sensitive, even the smallest damage to blood vessels can cause vision problems. Patients are therefore invited, by the authors, to report any vision problem related to alternative medicine.
Chiropractic treatment carries some risks already documented by cardiovascular health specialists: neck manipulation has already been associated with:
- some type of stroke or vertebral artery dissection, which led the American Heart Association to issue a warning (2014);
- a small tear in the artery walls of the neck: this type of artery wall injury can lead to a stroke if a clot forms at the site and then breaks apart, blocking a blood vessel in the brain;
- eye problems: including double vision or central retinal artery occlusion, a blockage of the artery carrying oxygen to the retinal nerve cells at the back of the eye;
- other possible complications that will disrupt the vitreous humor, the transparent substance that fills the eye between the lens and the retina;
- a posterior vitreous detachment that occurs when the vitreous humor moves away from the retina.
Mais ce cas suggère une nouvelle complication, des dommages directs aux structures de l'œil dus à la force des ajustements du cou. C'est le premier cas documenté de soins chiropratiques conduisant à de multiples hémorragies prérétiniennes, affirment les auteurs. Aucun traitement spécifique n'apparaît nécessaire.
Bien que ce lien avec les soins chiropratiques soit à considérer comme temporaire, il est difficile d'ignorer la chronologie des symptômes oculaires du patient après la visite chiropratique, concluent les auteurs.
