Naprapathic neck manipulation
I generally steer clear of offering anything that might be interpreted as medical advice, but I'm going to make a small exception today because of, well, reasons.
Naprapathic neck manipulation is a specific approach to manual therapy that has become very popular in Europe over the past decade or so, and probably elsewhere in the west as well. Over that time period, I've seen roughly one patient per year with damaged blood vessels in the neck as a result of naprapathic neck manipulation. In most cases, they've gotten tears in the inner lining of one or both of the blood vessels that supply the back of the brain including the brainstem, with strokes of varying degrees of severity as a result; some have damaged other blood vessels, also with stroke as a result. The potential (poorly supported) benefits of this specific type of manual therapy are, I believe, not great enough to outweigh the risk of dying in your 50s or becoming quadriplegic and blind or losing the ability to walk properly or speak properly or whatever. The people who seek out this form of therapy are typically young or middle-aged, with decades of largely healthy life ahead of them. I don't believe any of the patients I've had have been aware of this risk. The risk of something like this happening is small, so I don't believe practitioners of naprapathic manual therapy appreciate just how dangerous this form of neck manipulation can be. This form of therapy is legal, and the types of problems for which people seek it out are extremely common. The only way we can reduce the risk of tragedy is to raise awareness—among the public—about the small but significant risk of severe harm. So please bear in mind the aforementioned risks if you ever find yourself tempted to try manual therapy of the neck, or if someone you know is considering it. Make sure to find out what kind of manual therapy it is, and ensure that the practitioner is aware of the risks. cheers
