Complementary and alternative treatment for neck pain: chiropractic, acupuncture, TENS, massage...

Of the multitude of treatment options for the management of neck pain, no obvious single treatment modality has been shown to be most efficacious. As such, the clinician should consider alternative treatment modalities if a modality is engaging, available, financially feasible, potentially efficacious, and is low risk for the patient. As evidence-based medicine for neck pain develops, the clinician is faced with the challenge of which treatments to encourage patients to pursue. Treatment modalities explored in this article, including chiropractic, acupuncture, TENS, massage, yoga, Tai Chi, and Feldenkrais, represent reasonable complementary and alternative medicine methods for patients with neck pain.

Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2011 Aug;22(3):521-37, ix. Plastaras CT, Schran S, Kim N, Sorosky S, Darr D, Chen MS, Lansky R. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Penn Spine Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Christopher.plastaras@uphs.upenn.edu