Chiropractic & Neck Pain

About three quarters of our population will be plagued with neck pain at some point in their lives.  At any point in time approximately 10% of the population is experiencing some type of neck pain.  It certainly is no small problem for our society and it is a big problem for sufferers.  As with any condition, finding the best treatment is crucial.

The January 2012 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine published a study by Bronford et. al. entitled Spinal Manipulation, Medication, and Home Exercise with Advice for Acute and Subacute Neck Pain. (You can read the complete study at: http://www.annals.org/content/156/1_Part_1/1.full.pdf+html )  This randomized study looked at people who had neck pain for 2 to 12 weeks.  Having pain for that time period is what is considered to be acute or subacute pain. The people in the study were given either spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustments), medication or home exercises with advice for a period of twelve weeks.  Their pain levels were evaluated at 2, 4, 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks.  

The findings showed clearly superior results for the manipulation group over the medication group at each evaluation after week 4.  Even though initially the people taking medication showed improvement, at 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks their results were far inferior to the manipulation group. The results for the home exercises combined with advice was similar to the manipulation group.  Although it was not part of this study, it would be interesting to see what the results would be when chiropractic adjustments and home exercises are combined.  That's what I generally recommend.


Chiropractic care is effective because instead of just numbing the symptoms, it addresses the cause of the pain.  A large portion of neck pain cases are caused by vertebral subluxations.  A vertebral subluxation is when the joints of the spine have lost their proper motion and position resulting in irritation of the surrounding nerves.  Chiropractors specialize in the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations.


The Bronford study adds to the long list of research papers which show chiropractic care is superior to medications for both neck and low back pain.  We have a number of other studies summarized on our website at http://www.powers-jans.com/index.php?p=228152 .  It's important however to keep in mind that chiropractic is about more than just pain relief.  It's about allowing the body to function normally.  It's about health.