Neck pain is a prevalent condition that nearly three-quarters of persons experience at some point in their lives and neck pain is one of the most commonly reported symptoms in primary care settings. According to a report from the American College of Physicians’ Annals of Internal Medicine, “neck pain results in millions of ambulatory health care visits each year and increasing health care costs. Although it is not life-threatening, neck pain can have a negative effect on productivity and overall quality of life.
Who has not lived without experiencing neck pain at some point in their lives? Whether through tension, stress, physical activity or not sitting or sleeping properly, problems in your neck can be a pain to deal with. Such limited movement can make life miserable, keep you from your daily activities and leave you out in the cold, unable to participate in the lifestyle that you have come to enjoy and love.
The American Chiropractic Association reinforces the powerful role spinal and cervical manipulation therapies play in healing neck pain and certain types of headaches. “Cervical manipulation – often called a neck adjustment – works to improve joint mobility in the neck, restoring range of motion and reducing muscle spasm, which helps relieve pressure and tension,” states the ACA.
Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation
Considered one of the safest procedures, spinal manipulation therapy used by a Fort Lauderdale chiropractor is seen as a far safer way to treat neck pain than prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). According to a study from the American Journal of Gastroenterology, approximately one-third of all hospitalizations and deaths related to gastrointestinal bleeding can be attributed to the use of aspirin or NSAID painkillers like ibuprofen, the ACA states. Thinking about surgery to heal your injury? Not so fast. It carries risks greater than those of chiropractic treatment.
If you are visiting your doctor of chiropractic with upper-neck pain or a headache, be very specific about your symptoms. This will help the chiropractor offer the best treatment. If the issue of stroke concerns you, do not hesitate to discuss it with your doctor of chiropractic. More times than not, the chiropractor will recommend a program involving spinal manipulation, which is a manual therapy. How effective is it? Very, according to trials conducted by The American College of Physicians.
These trials, of people age 18 to 65 suffering neck pain for a range of two up to 12 weeks, with pain on a score of three or greater, employed six chiropractors with a minimum of five years’ experience that served as the primary providers of treatment. Visits lasted 15 to 20 minutes and included a brief history and examination of the cervical and thoracic spine. For one test group, the primary focus of treatment was spinal manipulation. There was also a group that was treated via medication only and a third group that was treated through home exercise combined with advice from a professional.
Measurements of cervical spine motion were measured at 4 and 12 weeks by 7 trained examiners.
According to the results: “Improvement in participant-rated pain significantly differed with SMT compared with medication at 12 weeks, with a 0.94 greater reduction in pain.” At 12 weeks, according to the report, “a significantly higher proportion of the SMT group experienced reductions of pain of at least 50 percent.
In this trial of spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) versus medication or exercise/advice for the treatment of acute and subacute neck pain, SMT seemed more effective than medication. Both spinal manipulation therapy and exercise led to similar short- and long-term outcomes. Participants who received medication seemed to fare worse, with a consistently higher use of pain medication for neck pain throughout the trial’s observation period. The conclusion was that both SMT and exercise “constitute viable treatment options for managing acute and subacute mechanical neck pain.”
Additionally, the ACA cites various success stories on its website concerning SMT; such as:
“Manual-thrust manipulation provides greater short-term reductions in self-reported disability and pain compared with usual medical care. 94% of the manual-thrust manipulation group achieved greater than 30% reduction in pain compared with 69% of usual medical care.” (Schneider et al (2015), Spine)
“Reduced odds of surgery were observed for…those whose first provider was a chiropractor. 42.7% of workers [with back injuries]who first saw a surgeon had surgery, in contrast to only 1.5% of those who saw a chiropractor.” (Keeney et al (2012), Spine)
“Acute and chronic chiropractic patients experienced better outcomes in pain, functional disability, and patient satisfaction; clinically important differences in pain and disability improvement were found for chronic patients.” (Haas et al (2005), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics)
So if you want to the right healing program for your neck pain, schedule a visit with a Fort Lauderdale chiropractor, who is an expert at healing. Through the right combination of spinal manipulation therapy programs, diet and exercise, you will feel better, be able to move better and lead a better life … and after all, that’s the goal, isn’t it?