VIDEO: What physicians should know about managing neck pain

During a presentation at the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference, Janice Blumer, DO, FAAO, a professor and research mentor at Western University of Health Sciences, discussed managing neck pain in clinical settings and the available treatment options.

According to background information from the Cleveland Clinic, neck pain affects around 10% to 20% of adults and is more common in women.

At her talk, Blumer covered “all the varieties of neck pain, [from] the garden varieties to the very severe, and at the same time [balanced] out what’s current in the research,” she told Healio.

Blumer highlighted multiple key takeaways for physicians, one of which is that muscle relaxers “are really not that beneficial for neck pain and actually may be detrimental.”

For most cases of neck pain, “there is [a] need for multiple avenues of treatment, not just one,”she added.

References:

• Blumer J. “Oh, what a pain in the neck”: Unraveling common causes of cervicalgia. Presented at: OMED; Sept. 20-22, 2024; San Antonio, TX.
• Neck pain. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21179-neck-pain. Accessed Sept. 23, 2024.