Mary Franz - Mar 30th, 2011
A recent study examined whether there was a difference in muscle strength between those who suffer from mechanical neck pain and those who do not. The study was conducted on two groups of patients. Group 1 had 148 patients with mechanical neck pain: 127 with whiplash-type injuries and 21 with chronic neck pain unrelated to a specific injury. Group 2 had 100 patients with no significant history or current mechanical neck pain.
Manual muscle tests were used to test strength in the neck and shoulder muscles. The first group had 139 participants who showed decreased muscle strength in at least one of the four manual muscle strength tests. In contrast, only 30 of the 100 patients in group 2 had decreased muscle strength in at least one of the tests. This significant difference strongly suggests a correlation between decreased neck and shoulder muscle strength and mechanical neck pain.
A chiropractor can develop a treatment plan for mechanical neck pain that will aid and facilitate the strengthening of the neck and shoulder muscles to help decrease mechanical neck pain. Strengthening these areas will improve healing and diminish the chances of re-injury.
Cuthbert SC, Rosner AL, McDowall D. Association of manual muscle tests and mechanical neck pain: Results from a prospective pilot study. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy. 2011 Apr;15(2):192-200.
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