The benefits of good aeration outway any risks....noone's ever posted anything about ruining their brew by doing it properly. I go with the sanitized slotted mixing paddle for 5 minutes method. Other's go with the sanitized airstone on an oxygen bottle or aquarium pump, and other's shake the heck out of their fermenters....and some slosh their wort into the fermenter... each way works fine.
I do the paddle method because that way I also make sure to thoroghly integrate the additional water with the cooled wort...Then when I take a hydrometer reading I trust that the reading will be accurate.