What Best for Neck Pain – Chiropractic, PT, or Medications?

Neck Pain is a very common cause of suffering and a major reason that someone seeks care with a health care practitioner in Texarkana.

What type of care works for people suffering with Neck Pain? Chiropractic, PT, or Medical Care?

A study published in the British Medical Journal looked at cost effectiveness of Neck Pain treatment through 3 different types of practitioners.

The practitioners were Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, and General Practice MDs.

All types of care did demonstrate some improvement in Neck Pain BUT…

The findings were remarkable for 3 reasons.

The Chiropractic Care patients improved faster than the PT or the MD treated patients.

The improvements were measured in patient perceived recovery, intensity of pain, functional disability, and quality of life.

In other words, Chiropractic worked better for the patients suffering with neck pain than treatment with physical therapy or medications.

Interestingly, the researchers also looked at cost of care provided by the 3 different provider types.

Chiropractic Care cost about 1/3 the amount of the Physical Therapy and 1/3 the amount of the Medical treatment patients.

Here are the actual numbers (average care cost per patient by provider) type for neck pain…

• Chiropractic care – $402
• Physical Therapy – $1166.42
• General Practice MD – $1240.17

“Total direct, indirect, and total costs were statistically significantly lower in the manual therapy group than in the physiotherapy and general practitioner care groups.”

Chiropractic Patients Missed Significantly Less Work Due To Neck Pain

Paid Missed Work by Type Of Provider For Neck Pain Treatment.

• 9 patients in the Chiropractic group reported absenteeism from paid work owing to neck pain compared with
• 12 patients in the physical therapy group and
• 15 patients in the general practitioner care group.

Unpaid Missed Work by Type Of Provider For Neck Pain Treatment.

• 11 patients in the Chiropractic group,
• 18 patients in the physical therapy group, and
• 15 patients in the general practitioner care group.

The Researchers Concluded from the Neck Pain Study Results…

If you live in the Texarkana area and are suffering with Neck Pain, please contact us: Email Us or call 903-793-1084.

There is an excellent chance that we can help you get better faster.

Reference:

BMJ. 2003 Apr 26; 326(7395): 911. doi: 10.1136/bmj.326.7395.911 PMCID: PMC153837
Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC153837/