According to a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, roughly 13% of American adults suffer from neck pain at any given time. Half of all adults can at least remember a time when their neck felt sore and stiff. Like back pain, neck pain can be extremely frustrating. It tends to come on quickly and go away slowly. For most people, it does go away, and all it usually takes is a little self-care, a lot of patience, and, perhaps, some help from a doctor—more importantly, a doctor experienced with super-pulsed laser therapy (SPL).
Most neck pain is mechanical and not organic in nature. Unfortunately, the first choice of treatment by neck pain sufferers and medical doctors is pain medications—from over-the-counter NS AIDs to opioids. A literal mountain of pain medication is taken each year in the US to address neck pain and associated symptoms. A major point to make here is that there are no side effects associated with SPL, which has been FDA-cleared for the treatment of pain and muscle spasms, two of the main components that accompany most neck pain.
Unfortunately, the first choice of treatment by neck pain sufferers and medical doctors is pain medications—from over-the-counter NSAIDs to opioids.
Experts in biomechanics have stated that 80% of the cervical spine’s mechanical stability comes from musculature. It would stand to reason that a mechanical condition would require a mechanical correction, and not a pharmacological one. Simply masking neck pain symptoms with drugs is a poor choice. SPL has been well established as an effective application for pain, and there is a long list of peer-reviewed papers demonstrating its effectiveness in treating myofascial pain and trigger points. The Chiropractic Council on Guidelines and Practice Parameters conducted a literature review comparing “the most commonly used treatment procedures in chiropractic for MPS and MTrPs.” A total of 112 articles were identified and reviewed for effectiveness and support in the scientific literature. Laser therapy scored the highest. “Evidence supports laser therapy (strong)...out of all the other treatments, manipulation, ischemic pressure, TENS, acupuncture, and magnet therapy.” It should be noted that while SPL is effective as a stand-alone therapy, the best results have been found when SPL is used with other modalities, such as spinal manipulation.
In many cases, the original neck soreness that a patient experiences becomes pain and progresses to chronic neck pain, then cascading into a host of other issues. Uncorrected neck pain can degenerate into more serious and sometimes debilitating maladies. Early intervention should be the rule.
Headaches often have a cervical spine component as the cause or as a contributing factor—tension headaches, cervicogenic headaches, headaches from myofascial pain and trigger points. Neck pain with stiffness, tension, and restricted ranges of motion left uncorrected can cause mechanical cervical spine issues. These can degenerate further to include neurological complaints, such as radiating nerve pain causing numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness in the arms and hands. On occasion, disability and severely degraded quality of life are the result. SPL can offer significant relief to even chronic cases that present with protracted pain.
On the topic of headaches, allow me to address this issue. Often, a patient suffering with significant headaches will think, “I wonder if I have a brain tumor.” This has come up more than once in my practice. Ninety percent of brain tumor patients do not present with headaches as a related symptom. Brain tumor headaches often present with sudden onset and patients frequently state that the headache is severe, i.e., “The worst headache I have ever had in my life.” These signs are red flags clinically and require careful scrutiny. A comprehensive neurological workup is called for to look for other signs of neuralgic deficient.
For musculoskeletal neck pain, neck pain with radiating limb pain, DDD, and DJD-related neck pain, super-pulsed laser therapy has a lot to offer.
For musculoskeletal neck pain, neck pain with radiating limb pain, DDD, and DJD-related neck pain, super-pulsed laser therapy has a lot to offer. SPL offers a new approach to an age-old problem, and without any of the side effects, such as when medications are used to control pain and spasms. In some cases, patients have been told they are a surgical candidate to relieve their condition. SPL can help them delay or even avoid neck surgery. Even if the patient is a clear candidate for cervical spine surgery, he or she can benefit from both pre and post laser treatments to speed up recovery.
Laser therapy is not new by any means and the benefits were discovered more than 50 years ago. There are more than 5,500 published research papers on the topic, and a new scientific paper is published every 36 hours, so every day and a half, which is an impressive flow of data!
Here is one my favorites showing the benefits of chiropractic and laser therapy.
Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy and Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Management of Cervical Facet Dysfunction: A Randomized Controlled Study
Lindie Saayman, Caroline Hay, and Heidi Abrahamse,
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 34.3(2011): 153-163.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the short-term effect of chiropractic joint manipulation therapy (CMT) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on pain and range of motion in the management of cervical facet dysfunction.
RESULTS: No differences existed between the three groups at baseline. A significant difference was seen between groups 1 (CMT) and 2 (LLLT) for cervical flexion; between groups 1 (CMT) and 3 (CMT + LLLT) for cervical flexion and rotation; and between groups 2 (LLLT) and 3 (CMT + LLLT) for pain disability in everyday life, lateral flexion, and rotation.
CONCLUSION: All three groups showed improvement in the primary and secondary outcomes. A combination of CMT and LLLT was more effective than either of the two on their own. Both therapies are indicated as potentially beneficial treatments for cervical facet dysfunction. Further studies are needed to explore optimal treatment procedures for CMT and LLLT, and the possible mechanism of interaction between therapies.
In this paper, low-level laser therapy offers pain relief and functional improvement.
The Clinical Efficacy of Low-Power Laser Therapy on Pain and Function in Cervical Osteoarthritis F. Özdemir, M. Birtane, S. Kokino, Clinical Rheumatology, 2001, Volume 20, Number 3, Page 181
Results: Pain, para-vertebral muscle spasm, lordosis angle, and the range-of-neck motion and function were observed to improve significantly in the LPL group, but no improvement was found in the placebo group. LPL seems to be successful in relieving pain and improving function in osteoarthritic diseases.
Dr. Christopher Carraway graduated from Life I-? ft -SJ Chiropractic College in 1985 and is a board-certified Mpb JM chiropractic neurologist with the International Academy of Chiropractic Neurology, as well as a charter :jC -1 member of the National Institute of Chiropractic Research. He has held an advance proficiency rating in the Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique for more than ten years. Dr. Carraway presented his case series on combined laser and LED for the treatment of herpes zoster-shingles at the 2013 NAALT Congress. Recently, he was named as a clinical advisor to Laser Therapy U and an invited member of the NAALT WALT Scientific Education Committee, as well as being the speaker for the 2014 program. Dr. Carraway was awarded a fellowship with the International Board of Clinical Neurology and is the senior medical advisor on the medical board of Multi Radiance Medical. A lifelong resident of New Bern, North Carolina, he practices in his hometown.
