Chiropractic Treatment for Neck Pain

Chiropractic treatment is conducted by a physician who usually has a pre-med undergraduate degree with an additional four or five years of chiropractic college. Reputable chiropractors use the initial DC after their

Chiropractic Therapy

name and treat their patients by using spinal manipulation to correct the alignment of the spine. This has become a popular treatment for both acute and chronic conditions such as neck pain after whiplash or other trauma, and for musculoskeletal issues involving disc problems, such as neck bulging discs, and poor posture.

Chiropractic treatment is one of the most widely studied and referenced therapies for the musculoskeletal system. Unfortunately, a great deal of this supposed academic work is far from that standard and reads more like thinly veiled advertising for a specific clinic or chiropractor. That is not to say that there is no good evidence for the benefits of chiropractic treatment, just that it is important, as always, to know the methodology and limitations of the research being cited. There are also significant worries in the medical literature over the safety of chiropractic treatment, with some justification for caution in all patients using the therapy, particularly those with serious underlying conditions such as spinal stenosis or ankylosing spondylitis. The potential for carotid artery dissection, fracture, and other adverse events is present during chiropractic treatment, and patients with neck pain should not view this technique as harmless and innocuous. Paciaroni (2009) claims an increasing incidence of severe adverse events after chiropractic treatment, particular in patients under the age of forty-five, which may contradict earlier classification of risk as higher for older patients with degenerative disease.

Next read about: The Risks of Chiropractic Therapy