Reversed Neck Curve And Lower Back Pain Corrected With Chiropractic – A Case Study

A case report study published on November 21, 2011 in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research documents the improvement of a person who was suffering with lower back pain and had a reversal of their neck curve.

The authors of the study start by noting that lower back pain is one of the most common conditions today with between six and twelve percent of the population suffering from this problem. They also report that medical care has not found a solution for this issue in spite of the fact that there has been a 629% increase in medical spending on lower back care.

The authors point out that chiropractic has consistently been shown to be effective in helping people with lower back pain. They also report that other studies have shown that abnormal curvatures of the spine have been linked to a variety of health related problems, including back pain. In this case the authors show a correlation between the two.

In this case a 41-year-old woman went to a chiropractor with lower back pain that she had been suffering from for two years. It had started when a chair she was sitting in gave way and she fell on her back. She had gone to multiple doctors including chiropractors and had not gotten relief. Her MRI showed problems with the vertebrae and discs in the lower back.

A motion x-ray (video fluoroscopy) was also done and showed abnormal spinal motion in both her lower back and her neck. X-rays also revealed a reversal of the neck, which should have a bending curve forward when viewed from the side on x-ray. Based on the x-rays and an examination, it was determined that spinal subluxations were present in her lower back and neck. A series of specific adjustments were initiated.

The case study reports that by the 11th visit the patient was completely pain free in her lower back and her leg, with only minimal pain still in her hip. After 6 weeks of care a follow-up set of x-rays were taken to monitor the progress. What was noticed was that the curve in the neck had gone from a reversal, to a normal curve during the course of care. This, coupled with the fact that the woman was feeling much better led the researchers to the conclusion that the neck was a large contributing factor in this persons lower back pain.

In their conclusion, the authors noted that the structure of a neck curvature can have a profound effect on lower back issues. They state, “Correcting the abnormal structure within the cervical spine can alleviate most symptoms associated with LBP.”