It is estimated that 51% of people will experience neck pain and that 15% of the population suffers chronically with neck pain.
A recent study followed patients who had recently developed neck pain. It was found that after 3 months the patients who chose either a chiropractor or exercised were more than 2X more likely to be pain free than people who took pain medications.
Patients who took drugs experienced only a 13 percent success rate. The patients who chose chiropractic care had a 32% success rate. The patients who chose exercise had a 30% success rate. The success rate for people who did both chiropractic and exercise was not reported and would have been interesting to know.
Besides the potential side-effects of some pain medications, they just didn’t compare to the other non-drug options.
Curt Hendrix, M.S., C.C.N., C.N.S.
