The Insider Secrets of Neck Pain Treatment Uncovered

Neck pain is very common and creates a heavy cost on the American health care  system.  It affects approximately 14% of the population yearly.  Yet,  the current treatment for neck pain is often uncoordinated,  disorganized, and costly.  Most sufferers will consult their medical  doctor, receiving muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory or pain  medications, or if that fails, a referral for physical therapy or traction. 

After repeated failures, frustrated chronic neck pain sufferers may turn to such alternatives as Chiropractors, Naturopaths, acupuncture, or massage.  Each approach has its  successes—and its failures.  Researchers are beginning to look into ways to increase the patient’s health and satisfaction, while hopefully  reducing costs.

Dr. Niteesh Choudhry, MD, PhD of Harvard Medical School and Dr.  Arnold Milstein, MD, MPH of Mercer Health and Benefits examined the  costs and benefits of the various health care approaches to treating  neck pain.  The full Mercer Report is attached to this article or it can be accessed at http://www.yes2chiropractic.org/files/2012/05/evidence_based_assessment.pdf.


In order to evaluate overall treatment effectiveness and costs,  researchers use the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) to compare  outcomes.  A value of 1 would be symptom-free or “perfect” health, a 0  is death, and 0.5 means moderate pain which limits some self-care  abilities.  The total costs of a treatment that yields an additional  year of ideal health determines the cost per QALY.  This incremental  cost-effectiveness ratio can then be used to determine the comparative  value of various treatments.  Interventions with cost-effectiveness ratios below $50000 to $100000 per QALY are generally considered to be cost-effective.

Doctors Choudhry and Milstein reported in the Mercer Report that  medical physician care for neck pain cost $579 (not including muscle  relaxant, anti-inflammatory or pain medications) with an efficacy (QALY) of 0.77.  Physiotherapy-led exercise had an efficacy of 0.79 at a cost  of $952.  This results in an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of  $18665 (increased cost divided by increased efficacy, numbers have been  rounded).  This is well below the $50000 to $100000 threshold for being  acceptable as cost-effective.  Chiropractic care had an efficacy of 0.82 at a cost of only $277, resulting in an incremental cost effectiveness  ratio of negative $6035.  Not only was Chiropractic more effective, it  resulted in a greatly reduced cost to achieve this effectiveness!

Because sufficiently detailed drug costs were lacking, drug  expenditures were not included in the analysis.  This would very likely  have increased the medical costs compared to the Chiropractic costs,  further increasing the cost savings seen in Chiropractic care.

Dr. J G Moellendorf, DC, ND, LCP notes, “What makes this information especially significant is that we  have two highly respected medical researchers concluding that seeing a  Chiropractor for neck pain is not only more effective, but less costly  than other forms of treatment!”

To see just how cost efficient Chiropractic care was, Doctors  Choudhry and Milstein found that by doubling the fees for Chiropractic  care, the savings were only reduced from $6035 to $5995.  If the costs  were increased by five times, the savings would still be $5875 compared  to medical care (medication costs not included).  If exercise therapy  was done by Chiropractors rather than by physical therapists, the 1 year costs would drop to $464, saving $114 per patient.

The Mercer Report also noted the findings of researchers Nelson,  Metz, and LaBrot who observed that when Chiropractic care was utilized,  there was reduced use of x-ray, MRI, CT scan, hospitalization, and  surgery; resulting in substantial cost savings long term.

It was observed by the Mercer Report that nearly 50% of chronic  spinal pain sufferers consult a Chiropractor for care.  Chiropractic was found to be more effective than other modalities in treating neck pain.  When combined with other modalities such as exercise, it was even more effective.

Source: prweb.com