Over the years, we've helped many people in Harrisburg, PA heal from persistent neck pain. This isn't surprising, as research demonstrates that chiropractic leads to significant improvements for 94% of neck pain patients. But how does chiropractic compare to other conservative treatments in the management of neck pain?
To answer this question, it's useful to look back at an interesting study from 2003 printed in the British Medical Journal. The paper compared various conservative treatments and concluded that manual therapy was the most economical option for neck pain.
Researchers from the Netherlands were interested in assessing not only the costs linked with manual therapy but how successfully manual therapy delivered relief compared to other treatments. They randomly assigned 183 patients with acute neck pain to receive care from manual therapists (MT), physiotherapists (PT), or general practitioners (GP).
People receiving manual therapy had the speediest recovery rate. After seven weeks of care, 68% of the MT group had recovered, as opposed to 51% of the PT group and 36% of the GP group. These differences in recovery rates were still statistically significant after 26 weeks but not after 52 weeks.
To calculate costs of treatments, the authors considered direct costs such as visits to the healthcare provider and the costs of prescription medications, in addition to indirect costs like work absenteeism and travel time. The manual therapy group had significantly lower costs, with patients spending only a third of the costs spent by patients in the PT and GP groups.
On average, manual therapy patients had about $611 in costs compared to $1773 in the physiotherapy group and $1885 in the general practitioner group (or 447 euros, 1297 euros, and 1379 euros, respectively). Only nine patients in the MT group claimed missed work due to neck pain, compared to 12 in the PT group and 15 in the GP group.
The reduced cost likely stemmed from the fact that MT patients were using significantly less prescription medications and needed fewer treatment interventions due to quicker recovery rates. The researchers concluded that manual therapy, specifically spinal mobilization, is less costly and more effective at treating neck pain than physical therapy or treatment from a general practitioner.
As a chiropractor, Dr. Blake can offer efficient neck pain relief with non-invasive, natural techniques. If you live in Harrisburg, PA and would like to stop suffering from chronic neck pain, give our office a call at (717) 657-2561 for an appointment.
Reference
Korthals-de Bos IB, et al. Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner. British Medical Journal 2003;326:911.
