Osteopathy alleviates pain in chronic non-specific neck pain: A randomized controlled trial

Objective Chronic non-specific neck pain (CNP) is a common, often disabling condition, which still lacks a reliable therapeutic standard. Empiric evidence suggests that osteopathic interventions might be effective in alleviating CNP symptoms. A randomized sham-controlled clinical trial was performed to test this hypothesis. Materials and methods One hundred and thirty-five CNP sufferers were identified through advertisements, and 49 patients meeting all relevant predefined criteria were recruited. All participants received a 12 min session of sham ultrasound once a week for an average of 10 weeks. In addition, 45 min of a test-dependent osteopathic intervention was given to 24 participants every other week. Forty participants could be followed up 12 weeks after the end of therapy. Results There was one dropout in the intervention group and 6 in the sham group. On a numeric rating scale (NRS, range: 0–10) average pain intensity decreased from 4.7 to 2.2 in the osteopathic group (P Conclusions A series of osteopathic interventions seems a promising therapeutic regimen for CNP sufferers. Further studies will have to demonstrate whether (a) these findings are reproducible and (b) positive long term outcomes can be achieved.