Neck Pain Relief: Does chiropractic help?

Neck pain is common, very common. This probably isn't news to you since their are countless blogs, news articles, tweets, etc talking about it. There are articles on causes, exercises to help, stretches to help, various treatments... it's all bit overwhelming and often times can be confusing. While people with neck pain search for relief they find an endless amount of options and this can make it hard to decide what treatment option is best for them. Well I'm going to add to that ever growing mass of content on the internet but at the same time I offer research to help neck pain sufferers make an educated decision.  

Acute Neck Pain

There is a recent study which took a group of neck pain sufferers (neck pain of 2-12 weeks duration) and separated them into 3 groups (chiropractic spinal manipulation, home exercise and advice, medication). The 3 groups were then treated for 12 weeks with the results being checked at the end of that treatment time. What they found was that both chiropractic spinal manipulation and home exercise and advice were more effective at relieving neck pain than medication. And what's even better is that at a 26 week check up and a 52 week check up, the chiropractic group and the exercise group were still better than the medication group! My thought here is to combine chiropractic and exercise to maximize results.

Chronic Neck Pain

Since the study above is for acute neck pain, or neck pain that has lasted less than 12 weeks, I'll address chronic neck pain here. A study published by the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics and cited on the ACA site reviewed 9 other studies on just this topic. They found significant improvements in chronic neck pain following chiropractic spinal manipulation in all 9 studies.

So what now?

That's up to you. I always advise that you get checked out by your family doctor or chiropractor in the case of neck pain because you don't want to let it linger too long. I hope this information helps you in your search for relief. Please feel free to ask any questions!

By: Phillip Gamble
Chiropractic Physician

White Oak Family Wellness
405 Illinois Ave #2b
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 442-0057

Chiropractor St Charles IL

Dr. Gamble's Illinois Chiropractic Society profile