Research review/ update for Chronic neck pain

 

If you suffer Chronic neck pain ( neck pain that lasts more than 3 months ) you are not alone. Recent research found that Chronic neck pain makes up  14.6% (1 )  of all MSK problems that present to practitioners like Chiropractors and PT. Up to 50% of adults will experience neck pain at least once this year but for most the problem quickly resolves.

Sadly not all people have a quick recover and if you are one of the unlucky people that has experienced neck pain for more than 3 months you know the effect it can have on your quality of life and wellbeing. In the military community in Okinawa there does seem to be a little more neck pain that I used to see back in Australia which I attribute to some hard training coupled with the effects of desk based computer work.

How to get the best results

A recent study ( 1) some great research by looking at the results in changes of Range of motion (ROM ) between a group that received exercises only against a group that received manual therapy as well as doing some exercises.

The found that ROM was significantly better when the subjects got manual therapy at the same time as doing starting some exercises.  The thinking is some the manual therapy gives better movement of the joints which the allows the exercises to be more effective.

You can read the full paper of the link below but for now the take home message for chronic neck pain is that a multi-model approach looking at manual therapy and exercises is going to yield the best results.

If you would like to make an appointment with an English speaking Chiropractor at either Sunabe Okinawa or Niseko you can book your Chiropractic appointment on the link below

 

https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=94455#service

 

References

 

1.  “Is Cervical Stabilization Exercise Immediately Effective in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain and Upper Cervical Spine Dysfunction? Randomized Controlled Trial “

Life 2022, 12(5), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12050714

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/5/714/htm