For Neck Pain, Chiropractic Care and Exercises are Better than Drugs

Many people in their lifetime will have debilitating neck pain. In fact, 1 out of every 3 Americans will suffer from neck pain. Moderate to severe neck pain is one of the most frequent reasons for a trip to a primary care doctor.  Many people think that there is nothing they can do for it. How many times do we hear someone say “I have a bad neck and can’t lift heavy things”? Many people just live with the pain, taking medicine to mask the pain and opting out of certain activities to avoid risk of hurting their neck.

Well, there is good news. In a new study comparing medical management of neck pain to chiropractic management of neck pain, the study showed chiropractic care was a better choice.  The study was published in The Annals of Internal Medicine by Dr. Bronfort and showed that chiropractic care was better at reducing neck pain than medications like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or narcotics. People think that over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen are safe. Prolonged use of these medicines can have serious side effects. Long-term use of acetaminophen is toxic to the liver and has been linked to liver disease. Ibuprofen have been shown to cause stomach bleeding and kidney damage with long-term use. Narcotics are addictive and have serious cardiovascular side effects. 

In Dr. Bronfort’s study, 272 adults with insidious neck pain were split into three groups and followed for 3 months.  One group was assigned to visit a chiropractor for 20 minutes a session, averaging 15 visits. A second group was assigned to take a common pain reliever like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. In some cases the patients were given muscle relaxers and narcotic drugs. The third group met with a physical therapist twice to be instructed on how to perform neck exercises. They were instructed to do 5 to 10 repetitions of each exercise, up to eight times a day. 

After 12 weeks, the people in the non-medication groups did significantly better than those people taking the drugs.  Roughly 57 percent of the patients who met with a chiropractor and 47 percent who did exercises reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain. Most importantly, a year later, the group assigned to see a chiropractor had a higher percentage of people who were still pain-free compared to the people who did exercises or took drugs.

In addition to their limited pain relief, the medications had at least one other downside. The people kept taking them even though they were ineffective. “The people in the medication group kept on using higher amounts of medication more frequently throughout the follow-up period, up to a year later,” Dr. Bronfort said.  “If you are taking medication over a long time, then we’re running into more systemic side effects like gastrointestinal problems.” He also expressed concern that those on the medications were not as empowered or active in their own care as those in the other groups.

It is important for people to be able to empower themselves during the healing process.

—Dr. Mike A. Sefcik,

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