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Neck Pain

In 2002, a study was published that compared the efficacy of chiropractic care, physical therapy and continued care by a general practitioner for neck pain.  After 7 weeks, the chiropractic patients experienced neck pain relief of 68.3%, while the physical therapy and general care patients experienced only a 50.8% and 35.9% relief respectively.  The authors concluded, "We found that manual therapy was more effective than continued care [by medical doctors], and our results consistently favored manual therapy on almost all outcome measures" (p. 720).

  • Hoving JL, Koes BW, et al. Manual therapy, physical therapy, or continued care by a general practitioner for patients with neck pain: a randomized controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 136(10):713-722, 2002.

A study published in the British Medical Journal evaluated the effectiveness of manual therapy (chiropractic), physiotherapy and general practitioner care for neck pain - as well as to compare costs for the three treatment types.  Manual therapy proved most effective of the three treatments, with manual therapy patients experiencing a 68% recovery rate and the lowest drug use.  The physical therapy and general practitioner patients experienced only a 51% and 36% recovery rate respectively.  Most impressive, however, was that not only was manual therapy most effective in treating neck pain, but the total costs for this treatment were about one-third of those for the other two treatments.

  • Korthals-de B, Ingeborg BC, Hoving JL, et al. Cost-effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomized controlled trial. British Medical Journal 326(7395):911, 2003.
    Brookings Choice for Chiropractic and Natural Health Care

     

     


     

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