03/06/2026
𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 + 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘆?
◼️ Neck pain is a widespread and disabling condition that can significantly impact daily life and lead to substantial economic and healthcare costs.
◼️ A 2025 Cochrane Database systematic review evaluated whether combining manual therapy with exercise is an effective and safe treatment for adults suffering from acute to chronic neck pain.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲?
◼️ Manual therapy includes hands-on techniques, such as joint manipulation and tissue mobilization, performed by healthcare providers.
◼️ The exercise component involves purposeful physical activities prescribed to improve symptoms, such as stretching, strengthening, motor control, cardiovascular training, or mind-body exercises like yoga.
📚 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄'𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲
◼️ Researchers analyzed data from nine randomized controlled trials involving a total of 694 adults across North America, Europe, Central Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific.
◼️ The average participant was 46 years old, and 76% of the participants were female.
◼️ The vast majority of the included studies focused specifically on individuals with chronic neck pain, which is pain lasting longer than 12 weeks.
🔍 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 #𝟭: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼
◼️ When compared to a placebo (sham) treatment at short-term follow-up (closest to four weeks), the combined therapy showed mixed results.
🔹 Pain
◼️ The treatment resulted in little or no difference in pain reduction compared to a placebo, improving by less than a single point on a 0 to 10 scale.
🔹 Function
◼️ There was a moderate increase in physical function, with participants improving by an average of 10.20 points on a 100-point scale.
🔹 Quality of Life
◼️ The therapy yielded little or no improvement in health-related quality of life.
📈 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 #𝟮: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
◼️ The benefits were much clearer when the intervention was compared to receiving a wait list or no treatment at all.
🔹 Pain
◼️ Participants experienced a large reduction in pain, improving by an average of 2.44 points on a 10-point scale.
🔹 Function
◼️ The treatment led to a moderate improvement in physical function, translating to a 14% absolute benefit over doing nothing.
🔹 Quality of Life
◼️ There was a moderate improvement in health-related quality of life, equating to an absolute improvement of 25% on a 100-point scale.
𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
◼️ The treatment appears to be relatively safe, as there was little to no difference in non-serious adverse events when compared to the control groups.
◼️ There was only a 2% absolute risk increase for mild, transient issues such as treatment-related soreness, dizziness, or headaches.
◼️ Additionally, no serious adverse events were reported in any of the studies, though detecting such rare events would likely require a much larger sample size.
⚠️ 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
◼️ The review authors rated the certainty of the evidence as low to very low.
◼️ This was primarily due to non-modifiable challenges in rehabilitation research, such as the impossibility of "blinding" therapists and patients to whether they were administering or receiving physical therapy.
◼️ Other issues that lowered the evidence quality included small study sample sizes, reliance on self-reported outcomes, and a complete lack of trial data for patients with acute neck pain.
🎯 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆
◼️ If you are struggling with chronic neck pain, combining manual therapy with exercise is significantly better than doing nothing at all, offering large reductions in pain and noticeable improvements in daily function.
◼️ However, when compared to a convincing placebo, the benefits are mostly limited to a moderate increase in physical function rather than actual pain relief.
◼️ Ultimately, patients who are willing to adhere to an exercise routine, can tolerate manual manipulation, and have the resources to attend multiple sessions a week may find this combined approach to be a valuable option for managing their symptoms.
