Neck pain and stiff neck

Neck pain

Cervicalgia (or neck pain), like lower back pain, is very often treated by chiropractors. There are 2 types of neck injury: muscular injuries following a given effort (they only last from 1 to 3 days) and neuro-musculo-skeletal injuries. This is the most common type of injury. It results from an incorrect working or resting position, a fall, or a movement that is too violent… The tension is then too strong and creates inflammation that can irritate the nervous tissue. The irritated nervous system causes pain and muscle spasms that can last for days, months or years. This can then lead to other symptoms: dizziness, vertigo, headaches, radiation into the back and arms, and in the medium term loss of mobility and strength, early development of osteoarthritis, etc. Don’t let this pain set in. Talk to your chiropractor, who will often be able to treat it easily.

Torticollis is just a form of neck pain, but with very severe inflammation of the nerve roots and adjacent tissues. The patient leans towards the analgesic side to relieve this nerve root. This is a defence mechanism. Here again, consult your chiropractor, who will be able to solve your problem. But don’t delay: the sooner the torticollis is treated, the quicker it will heal.

Study: Increase in active cervical amplitude after spinal manipulation (TOGGLE), Whittingham W, Nilsson N, JMPT 2001;24; 552-555.

The aim of this randomised study, carried out in Australia at the University of RMIT, was to measure variations in active cervical spine amplitude after cervical manipulation.

105 patients suffering from cervical headaches were divided into 2 groups. After a period of observation, the 1st group was treated with cervical manipulations, while the 2nd received sham manipulations.

During a 2nd period, the groups were reversed, and again during a 3rd period. At each period the active amplitude was measured.

Results: At each changeover, the group receiving cervical manipulations showed a clear improvement in active amplitude.

Conclusion: Cervical manipulation increases the active amplitude of cervical movement.

Study of chronic neck pain

Chronic neck pain treated with manual therapy, a systematic review of changes in scores. Vernon and Coll, JMPT,March 2007. Volume 30. Number 3.

This study concerns a systematic analysis of randomised studies carried out between 1980 and 2005 on chronic neck pain alone. 16 publications were selected. 9 publications concerned cervical manipulations, 5 trials concerned non-manipulative therapies, and 2 trials concerned massages.

In the case of manipulations, the improvement was 95% in the short and long term, across all the studies!

With regard to non-manipulative therapies, only one showed an average improvement of 70%.

Massage showed very little improvement.

Conclusions of the study: There is a high level of evidence concerning the effectiveness of manipulative therapies in the short and long term. The current level of evidence is not confirmed for massage.

Study of cervical radiculopathy:

Conservative approach to patients with cervical radiculopathy; a prospective study, Murphy and Coll, May 2006. JMPT Volume 29. Number 4.

This is a prospective cohort study of 35 patients. Data were collected at the end of conservative treatment (chiropractic adjustment) and after a minimum of 3 months. Disability was measured using the Bournemouth Disability Questionnaire. 92.6% of patients had a significant improvement compared to baseline over the long term.