Here is our Walnut Creek Chiropractic Weekly Health Alert:

According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, medication is not the best option for treating neck pain.

After following 272 neck-pain patients for 12 weeks, those who used a chiropractor or exercise were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who took medication.

Specifically:

• 32 percent who received chiropractic care became pain free
• 30 percent of those who exercised became pain free
• 13 percent of those treated with medication became pain free

Researchers concluded:

“For participants with acute and subacute neck pain, SMT [spinal manipulation therapy] was more effective than medication in both the short and long term.”

Source:

Annals of Internal Medicine January 3, 2012 vol. 156 no. 1 Part 1 1-10