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If you reach for the pain medicine when you experience neck pain, you may want to take a look at this latest study on pain medicine and neck pain. A recent study published in January’s Annals of Internal Medicine set out to determine whether spinal manipulation and/or home exercise is more effective than the use of pain medicines for the treatment of acute neck pain.

Both in the short and long term, spinal manipulation as well as at-home exercises won out over the use of pain medicines as being a more effective treatment for neck pain.

Acute neck injuries are common. Serious injuries such as whiplash may occur during an automobile accident, but you may incur whiplash in other ways as well. For instance, have you ever stood up quickly and hit your head? Left untreated, whiplash can turn into chronic whiplash syndrome that leads to months of troublesome symptoms such as dizziness, bed spins, shoulder pain and headaches.

Other acute neck injuries occur during normal tasks and activities. You might wake up with a “kink” in your neck due to sleeping in an awkward position. Your neck injury may stem from a repetitive strain injury or poor ergonomics at your work station. Reaching for something awkwardly can lead to a neck injury. Stress is a major cause of neck pain.

It’s important to have neck pain evaluated because left untreated, some neck injuries can lead to chronic neck pain and limited mobility in the future. Spinal misalignment and inflammation leads to a further damage to the surrounding tissue and bone, which can begin the process of early degeneration. Many older patients who are experiencing limited mobility, spinal stenosis or cervicogenic headaches can attribute their pain to an acute neck injury received earlier in life.

Your Oak Lawn, IL chiropractor can evaluate your neck pain and restore cervical health through gentle spinal manipulation, massage therapy and both passive and active exercises that can reduce inflammation and encourage proper healing to avoid chronic neck pain in the future. Pain medicines only serve to mask the pain. Proper chiropractic care as well as advice on what you can do to prevent future neck injuries are far more effective than pain medicines at relieving neck pain.