Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor

New guide outlines effective neck pain treatments

Maria DiDanieli   

Features Clinical Techniques

June
21, Toronto, ON – A new neck pain guide offers a concise
summary on both helpful and unhelpful approaches to treating this common
condition. The Neck Pain Evidence Summary is
based on a series of research reviews published in the journal Spine. It covers
the range of possible treatments for different severities and types of neck
pain, including whiplash.



The
Institute for Work and  Health (IWH)
created this summary to share the evidence synthesis completed by the Bone and
Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain. IWH worked with the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic
College, the Ontario
Chiropractic Association and some members of

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the
task force’s executive committee to prepare the summary.

 

In
February 2008, Spine published a special edition dedicated to the task force’s
reviews on the prevention, prognosis, diagnosis and management of neck pain.
After publication, a network of Canadian chiropractic opinion leaders,
coordinated by IWH, suggested distilling the evidence into a summary.

 

“It’s
exciting to see the chiropractic community take up the work of the task force
this way,” says Dr. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, a task force member and IWH senior
scientist. “The Neck Pain Evidence Summary
provides a way for health-care professionals to review the evidence easily in
their practice, and if they need further information, they can refer to the
full research papers.”

 

The
task force recommends treatments or further assessments, based on the severity
of neck pain. They classified severity into four grades. In the Evidence
Summary, a chart outlines the signs and symptoms, and further assessments for
each grade. Then both helpful and unhelpful treatments are presented by grade
and type of injury.

 

Because
there are several helpful treatments for some grades of neck pain, the patient’s
preference should be considered. For instance, any of the following treatments
may benefit for the less serious Grade I or II neck pain, in cases with no
traumatic accident: acupuncture, neck mobilization and manipulation, supervised
exercise, low-level laser therapy and pain relievers.

 

The
guide will be useful to various health-care professionals who use these
approaches, including chiropractors, doctors, physiotherapists and others.

 

“We’re
very pleased to be working with IWH and OCA to provide chiropractors with
results of key research so they may continue to provide the best informed care
to their patients,” says Dr. Jean Moss, President of CMCC. “This Neck Pain Evidence Summary guide is
another example of how intricate results of relevant research are distilled and
transferred to practicing chiropractors in a

practical
and accessible format.”

 

“We
welcome the work of this international task force whose study affirms the
safety and benefits of chiropractic care for people with neck pain, and we were
very pleased to work with IWH and CMCC to ensure practitioners will have easy
access to the most current and comprehensive research on neck pain,” says
Ontario Chiropractic Association President Dr. David Brunarski.

 

The Neck Pain Evidence Summary is
available online at http://www.iwh.on.ca/neck-pain-evidence-summary
. For more information, please contact Anita Dubey, Manager, Communications, Institute
for Work and Health at 416-927-2027 ext. 2260 or by emailing adubey@iwh.on.ca




About
the Task Force

The
Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated
Disorders involved more than 50 people from nine countries and represented 19
clinical and scientific disciplines or specialties. The task force was affiliated
with eight collaborating universities and research institutes as well as 11
professional organizations. The task force has published more than 20 research
studies and “best evidence” systematic reviews on neck pain.

 

About
the Institute for Work and Health

The
Institute for Work and Health is an independent, not-for-profit research
organization whose mission is to conduct and share research that protects and
improves the health of working people and is valued by policy-makers, workers
and workplaces, clinicians, and health and safety professionals. IWH operates
with the support of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.


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