Neck Pain Can Be a Pain in the Neck
Neck pain can be an annoyance to many people. But is it just a pain in the neck, or is it more serious? There are ways to find out. Doctors of chiropractic are specifically trained in specialized techniques that can find the cause of neck pain and also help to eliminate it.
Almost all neck pain originally arises from a condition known as vertebral subluxation. This condition is caused by misalignment and/or restricted movement of spinal bones in the spine of the neck, also known as vertebrae. Chiropractors help correct vertebral subluxations with gentle and safe techniques called chiropractic adjustments.
There’s some new and exciting research that shows chiropractic can dramatically reduce neck pain and increase function in the area of vertebral subluxation. One of these studies involved 2,055 adult patients. Of these patients, a little more than half sought non-medical, non-traditional procedures such as chiropractic to help with their neck pain.
Sixty-one percent of the chiropractic patients reported their care was “very helpful,” yet only 27 percent of the patients receiving traditional, medical procedures rated their care as very helpful. The researchers of this study, published in the highly respected Spine research journal, said chiropractic plays an “important role” in caring for patients with neck pain. This is just one of many new studies that prove how effective chiropractic adjustments can be and how satisfied patients can be with chiropractic.
The British Medical Journal also recently released a new study. This study rated manual therapy, including chiropractic, as less costly and more effective than either physiotherapy or care by a general practitioner. This study performed in Amsterdam involved 183 patients aged 18 to 70. Sixty patients received spinal mobilization, 59 received physiotherapy, and 64 received standard care from a general practitioner.
Patients in the manual therapy group recovered faster and missed fewer workdays than patients who received physiotherapy or general practitioner care. The cost of the manual therapy was one-third of that associated with the physiotherapy or general practitioner care. The authors concluded, “Our findings showed manual therapy to be more cost effective than physiotherapy and continued care provided by a general practitioner in the treatment of non-specific neck pain.”
Chiropractic has also been shown to offer immediate results by both decreasing pain levels and also increasing range of motion in the neck. This study, published in JMPT, reported patients receiving chiropractic adjustments experienced a reduction in pain 1.5 times greater than a group of patients only receiving exercises to increase range of motion in the neck.
There’s now a significant report showing the effects of using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for neck pain. These would include many over-the-counter pain relievers. These drugs have been shown to dramatically boost the risk of serious health conditions, such as gastrointestinal disorders, high blood pressure, and cardiac heart failure. These drugs don’t solve any health problems; they simply mask the pain. The report, based on research performed from 1966 until 1994, focused on chiropractic adjustments versus NSAIDs. The conclusion of this report stated, “The best evidence indicates that cervical manipulation for neck pain is much safer then the use of NSAIDs, by as much as a factor of several hundred times.”
Chiropractic adjustments have been proven to be extremely helpful in decreasing neck pain. However, there are some cases where a chiropractic adjustment isn’t indicated, including such factors as a fracture or tumor. Doctors of chiropractic are trained to identify these situations and refer the patient to the proper medical specialist. However, almost all of the time chiropractic adjustments can help to decrease neck pain. If you’re having any difficulties due to neck pain, call your local chiropractic, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
If you have questions for the author, e-mail them to info@peoriamagazines.com. TPW
Almost all neck pain originally arises from a condition known as vertebral subluxation. This condition is caused by misalignment and/or restricted movement of spinal bones in the spine of the neck, also known as vertebrae. Chiropractors help correct vertebral subluxations with gentle and safe techniques called chiropractic adjustments.
There’s some new and exciting research that shows chiropractic can dramatically reduce neck pain and increase function in the area of vertebral subluxation. One of these studies involved 2,055 adult patients. Of these patients, a little more than half sought non-medical, non-traditional procedures such as chiropractic to help with their neck pain.
Sixty-one percent of the chiropractic patients reported their care was “very helpful,” yet only 27 percent of the patients receiving traditional, medical procedures rated their care as very helpful. The researchers of this study, published in the highly respected Spine research journal, said chiropractic plays an “important role” in caring for patients with neck pain. This is just one of many new studies that prove how effective chiropractic adjustments can be and how satisfied patients can be with chiropractic.
The British Medical Journal also recently released a new study. This study rated manual therapy, including chiropractic, as less costly and more effective than either physiotherapy or care by a general practitioner. This study performed in Amsterdam involved 183 patients aged 18 to 70. Sixty patients received spinal mobilization, 59 received physiotherapy, and 64 received standard care from a general practitioner.
Patients in the manual therapy group recovered faster and missed fewer workdays than patients who received physiotherapy or general practitioner care. The cost of the manual therapy was one-third of that associated with the physiotherapy or general practitioner care. The authors concluded, “Our findings showed manual therapy to be more cost effective than physiotherapy and continued care provided by a general practitioner in the treatment of non-specific neck pain.”
Chiropractic has also been shown to offer immediate results by both decreasing pain levels and also increasing range of motion in the neck. This study, published in JMPT, reported patients receiving chiropractic adjustments experienced a reduction in pain 1.5 times greater than a group of patients only receiving exercises to increase range of motion in the neck.
There’s now a significant report showing the effects of using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for neck pain. These would include many over-the-counter pain relievers. These drugs have been shown to dramatically boost the risk of serious health conditions, such as gastrointestinal disorders, high blood pressure, and cardiac heart failure. These drugs don’t solve any health problems; they simply mask the pain. The report, based on research performed from 1966 until 1994, focused on chiropractic adjustments versus NSAIDs. The conclusion of this report stated, “The best evidence indicates that cervical manipulation for neck pain is much safer then the use of NSAIDs, by as much as a factor of several hundred times.”
Chiropractic adjustments have been proven to be extremely helpful in decreasing neck pain. However, there are some cases where a chiropractic adjustment isn’t indicated, including such factors as a fracture or tumor. Doctors of chiropractic are trained to identify these situations and refer the patient to the proper medical specialist. However, almost all of the time chiropractic adjustments can help to decrease neck pain. If you’re having any difficulties due to neck pain, call your local chiropractic, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
If you have questions for the author, e-mail them to info@peoriamagazines.com. TPW