Put down the Pills for Neck Pain – ABC News

In an ABC Broadcast – Diane Sawyer –

Watch the Video on Youtube –

Neck Pain: Chiropractors, Exercise Better Than Medication, Study Says (Video)

When it comes to neck pain the best medicine is no medicine at all according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, followed 272 patients with recent neck pain who were treated using three different professions:

  1. Medications
  2. Physical Therapy – Home Exercise
  3. Chiropractic Adjustments

After 12 weeks the patients who used a chiropractor or exercised were almost 3 times as likely to be pain free compared to those who relied on medicine

The patients treated by a chiropractor experienced the highest rate of success with 32 percent saying they were pain free, compared to 30 percent of those who exercised. Only 13 percent of patients treated with medication said they no longer experienced pain.

“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Dr. Lee Green, professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan told ABC News. “Neck pain is a mechanical problem, and it makes sense that mechanical treatment works better than a chemical one.” (aka chiropractic care)

Copy of the Full Study

Conclusion of the Study – Per the New York Times on Chiropractic & Neck pain

“After 12 weeks, the people in the non-medication groups did significantly better than those taking the drugs. About 57 percent of those who met with chiropractors and 48 percent who did the exercises reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, compared to 33 percent of the people in the medication group.

A year later, when the researchers checked back in, 53 percent of the subjects who had received spinal manipulation still reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, similar to the exercise group. That compared to just a 38 percent pain reduction among those who had been taking medication.

In addition to their limited pain relief, the medications had at least one other downside: people kept taking them. “The people in the medication group kept on using a higher amount of medication more frequently throughout the follow-up period, up to a year later,” Dr. Bronfort said. “If you’re taking medication over a long time, then we’re running into more systemic side effects like gastrointestinal problems.”

Try chiropractic today.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Trace Palmer