Manipulative therapy may relieve chronic shoulder pain

Nutrition Health Review,  Summer, 2004  

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THE NETHERLANDS--Shoulder pain does not usually go away after treatments such as rest and analgesics (pain relievers).

Dutch researchers conducted a randomized trial to study the effect of manipulative therapy (up to six sessions of mobilization and manipulation of the cervicothoracic spine and adjacent ribs over 12 weeks) in 150 patients presenting with pain between the neck and elbow.

All patients were informed about shoulder symptoms and the usual course of therapy, including pain relivers, corticosteroid injections, and physiotherapy for chronic pain. The patients were asked not to tell the researchers whether they had received manipulative therapy.

Most of the patients who received manipulative therapy felt fully recovered or much improved after six weeks.

The results of this study do not necessarily prove whether manipulative therapy is vital to the treatment of shoulder pain. The patients were aware of the therapy they received, and the placebo effect is well known. Also, the researchers did not report each patient's diagnosis, which might haVe helped to answer their original hypothesis.

(Source: Annals of Internal Medicine. September 2004; 141: 432-439.)

COPYRIGHT 2004 Vegetus Publications
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group