Improving the cervical lordosis relieves neck pain and chronic headaches in a pediatric: a Chiropractic Biophysics® (CBP®) case report with a 17-month follow-up.
Tim C Norton, Paul A Oakley, Deed E Harrison
PMID 35035083WHAT IT FOUND
A 10-year-old boy reported his neck pain dropped from 9/10 to 0/10 and headaches became rare after chiropractic treatment.
X-rays showed his neck curve changed from -2.3° to -25.2°. This describes one person, not a proven pattern.
Key findings
01The patient's neck pain decreased from 9/10 to 0/10 and headaches became very rare after 18 treatments over 6.5 weeks.
02Cervical X-rays showed the lordosis angle changed from -2.3° to -25.2° post-treatment and was -23.8° at 17-month follow-up.
03The treatment included manual spinal manipulation, mirror image adjustments, and a home Denneroll traction orthotic, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
This is a single case report with no control group, so it cannot establish that the treatment caused the improvement rather than natural recovery or placebo. There was no diary to verify how accurately the patient performed the home traction exercises. The study did not separate the effects of manual manipulation from the extension traction, though the authors note other trials suggest traction is the primary driver of curve change. The patient continued monthly maintenance treatments and periodic home traction during the 17-month follow-up, so it is unclear if the results would hold without ongoing care.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the change in X-ray angles as proof that this treatment works for pediatric neck pain. This is a single case report with no comparison group, and the patient received multiple interventions simultaneously while continuing maintenance care, so it is impossible to know if the treatment caused the relief or if the symptoms would have resolved naturally.