McKinney Chiropractor Best Practices
Research Commentary;
Best Treatment for Neck Pain
A Randomized Clinical Trial of Exercise and Spinal Manipulation for Patients With Chronic Neck Pain
Charles Goldsmith, Howard Vernon
Research Reviewed by Dr. Travis Downs
Summarized Review Conclusions
Research shows that about 70% of people will deal with neck pain in their lifetime. Most people will go the medical route with pain killers, muscle relaxers or over the counter drugs to help deal with the pain. When we go that route, we are just covering up the symptoms and not solving the problem. So what is the Best Treatment for neck pain? This research shows that adding an exercise program along with spinal manipulation is the best way to not only help with the neck pain but keep it away. This makes perfect sense if we remember Hilton’s Law. The more motion we get through our joints the stronger and healthier they are going to be, and the less pain we will have. So, if you are dealing with neck pain make sure you are exercising and getting adjusted for the best outcomes. Below you will find direct quotes of the referenced article along with my synopses of the research query, methodology and findings including references used by the research authors.
- “Neck pain is a commonly reported problem that affect 70% of individuals at some time in their lives”
- “The exception was satisfaction with care, which favored SMT with exercise over SMT alone. feelings of anger and confusion stable compared to increases in the placebo group.”
- “In terms of neck performance, however, at least twice
as much improvement was observed in the SMT and
exercise group as in the SMT group on all measures including range of motion methods”
Introduction to the Research
This is another research paper that proves Hilton’s Law to be true and use of the chiropractic adjustment is the best way to get people out of pain and keep them out of pain. It’s not surprising that adding a spinal exercise program after the adjustment not only helps with the pain, but strengthening of the muscles helps keep the joints moving the correct way. The only thing I would have liked to see in the research is the frequency of care increased. They performed treatment 1.8x a week and I am curious to what the results would have been if they increased that frequency to 3x a week for the 20 visits. I know from experience and other research that they would have seen more improvements and strength with more frequency of care. But once again motion and the chiropractic adjustment prove to help decrease and stabilize neck pain.
Research Methodology
Altogether, 191 patients with chronic mechanical neck pain were randomized to receive 20 sessions of spinal manipulation combined with rehabilitative neck exercise (spinal manipulation with exercise), MedX rehabilitative neck exercise, or spinal manipulation alone. The main outcome measures were patient-rated neck pain, neck disability, functional health status (as measured by Short Form-36 [SF-36]), global improvement, satisfaction with care, and medication use. Range of motion, muscle strength, and muscle endurance were assessed by examiners blinded to patients’ treatment assignment
Research Findings
For chronic neck pain, the use of strengthening exercise, whether in combination with spinal manipulation or in the form of a high-technology MedX program, appears to be more beneficial to patients with chronic neck pain than the use of spinal manipulation alone. The effect of low-technology exercise or spinal manipulative therapy alone, as compared with no treatment or placebo, and the optimal dose and relative cost effectiveness of these therapies, need to be evaluated in future studies.
Research References
As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed below.
- Cote P, Cassidy JD, Carroll L. The Saskatchewan Health and Back Pain
Survey: The prevalence of neck pain and related disability in Saskatchewan
adults. Spine 1998;23:1689–98.
- Hurwitz EL, Coulter ID, Adams AH, et al. Use of chiropractic services from
1985 through 1991 in the United States and Canada. Am J Public Health
1998;88:771–6.
Our Message
Our Chiropractors in McKinney, located near the corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Ridge Rd., are here to help educate our patients on how to live a healthier lifestyle by teaching our patients the link between how you eat and how your choices can effect your health. We are committed to providing our patients with the Best Treatment for neck pain, back pain and headaches with chiropractic adjustments and exercise.