Moderate to severe neck pain is the typical cause for complaint that chiropractic care doctors hear. Most people visit their local medical doctor for pain medication to begin with, but they often fail to find real relief from their problem. This is the case when pain stems from stiffness in the neck.
A new study from The Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that in one-on-one comparisons of chiropractic care and pain medication, chiropractic techniques provided far-reaching and longer lasting relief. They also noted that chiropractic care had no negative side effects, unlike pain medications such as NSAID’s.
The study features around 272 adult subjects who had neck pain with no apparent cause. Researchers divided them into groups and followed them over the course of 3 months. One group was assigned a chiropractor. They visited the chiropractic doctor an average of 15 times. The other group was assigned to consume over-the-counter pain relievers including aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and even narcotics under the care of a doctor. After the 3 months were up, the individuals in the chiropractic group reported higher levels of change than those seeing a doctor.
The result is that 57 percent of those seeing a chiropractor reported a 75 percent reduction in their pain. The other group reported just a 33 percent reduction.
“Even a year later, there were significant differences between the spinal manipulation and medication groups.” Said Dr. Gert Bronfort, one of the co-authors of the study. They revealed that 12 months after the study patients in the chiropractic group were continuing to experience at least a 75 reduction in pain and those in the medicated group experienced a 38 percent reduction.
The conclusion is plain as day. Chiropractic care provides a much more comprehensive plan for relieving significant neck pain.