Got a pain in the neck? The medicine cabinet isn’t going to help you nearly as much as a chiropractor or a home-exercise routine.
It’s true. The Annals of Internal Medicine released a study this year showing that prescription painkillers aren’t nearly as effective in treating long-term pain as non-drug therapies such as chiropractic care or home exercise.
The chiropractic patients fared the best, with 57 percent of participants saying their overall neck pain decreased by at least 75 percent during the 12-week study.
The home-exercise group wasn’t far behind with 48 percent of participants reporting similar improvements.
Now here’s the kicker: Of the patients who used prescription drugs, only 38 percent reported that the treatment was successful enough to alleviate at least three-quarters of their pain. Not only that, but researchers found that people in the painkiller category tended to increase the amount of medication they used over time.
Kind of interesting. So if you’re hurting, please stop by. We’ll help get rid of those pains for good.