Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Technikon Natal, 1998. / Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of two seemingly different approaches to manipulation of the cervical spine in the treatment of cervical spine dysfunction. The researcher postulated that a manual manipulation would have a greater effect in reducing pain and increasing range of motion that accompanies cervical dysfunction than an instrumental, low force, high velocity thrust delivered by means of an Activator Adjusting Instrument. The reason for this is that it provides greater joint movement. Methods This randomised controlled trial consisted of two treatment groups. Each group consisted of 15 subjects, between the ages of 16 and 65 years, selected from the general population and randomly allocated to treatment group A or B. Group A received instrumental thrusts delivered by an Activator Adjusting Instrument (AAI), while group B received standard diversified manual manipulations to the dysfunctional joints in the cervical spine. Each subject was assessed by using subjective measures of the CMCC Neck Disability Index, Numerical Pain Rating Scale and McGill Short- Form questionnaire; and the objective measure of degrees of cervical range of motion obtained using a cervical goniometer (CROM). Two tailed statistical analysis was conducted at a = 0.05, using the non-parametric Wilcoxin Signed Rank Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test comparing intra-group and inter-group data respectively. Further assessment of the data was conducted using power analysis. This data as well as the descriptive statistics were presented in tables and bar charts. / M

A dissertation presented in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Technikon Natal, 2000. / The literature shows neck pain, including cervical facet syndrome, to be a common problem. It also provides evidence that inflammation plays a role in cervical facet pathology. Prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is the first line treatment of allopathic physicians for neck pain. Traumeel S is a complex of homoeopathic remedies indicated in a variety of anti-inflammatory, traumatic and degenerative disorders. It has been clinically shown that Traumeel S is effective in the treatment of inflammation. There is a paucity of clinical research into the treatment of acute neck pain, including cervical facet syndrome, with antiinflammatory agents. The aim of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of piroxicam, an NSAID, with Traumeel S in the treatment of acute cervical facet syndrome. The study was a double-blind, comparative, clinical trial. Fifty consecutive patients complying with all inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to either the Traumeel S group or the piroxicam group. Each patient in the NSAID group received 40 mg of piroxicam per day for the first two days and 20 mg per day for the following 5 days. The Traumeel S group received the same dosage of placebo piroxicam capsules and 3 Traumeel S tablets in crushed form, per day. Placebo Traumeel Stablets, also in crushed form, were taken 3 times a day by the NSAID group to facilitate blinding. III Patients were assessed on days 1, 3 and 7 of the trial. Subjective assessment involved two questionnaires: the CMCC Neck Disability Index, and the NRS-101 / M

Dissertation submitted in the partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Technikon Natal, 1997. / Symptomatic cervical spondylosis is a common condition in patients over the age of forty. This condition has been successfully treated by means of chiropractic adjusting. However, to date little research has been conducted to investigate whether the combination of chiropractic adjusting and an alternative therapy may be more effective than just chiropractic treatment alone. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the combination of chiropractic adjusting and an Anthroposophical remedy, Disci comp.cum Stanno, would be more effective in the treatment of symptomatic cervical spondylosis than chiropractic adjustments alone. It was hypothesized that cervical spine manipulation, and the combination of chiropractic adjusting and the Disci remedy would both be effective in the treatment of symptomatic cervical spondylosis. Moreover, with reference to objective and subjective clinical findings, it was assumed that the combined chiropractic adjustments and the Disci remedy would be more effective than chiropractic adjusting alone. The study was a controlled, double-blind clinical trial consisting of thirty patients, fifteen comprising the control group and fifteen the experimental group. The age range of the sample group was from forty to seventy-nine years. The patients were randomly divided into the two groups. The control group was treated with chiropractic adjustments to the / M

M.Tech.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Chiropractic) -Dept. of Chiropractic, Durban Institute of Technology, 2002 xiii, 93 leaves / The purpose of this study was to determine the short to medium term effectiveness of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitaion (P.N.F.) stretching [using the Contract- Relax-Antagonist-Contract (C.R.A.C.) technique] as an adjunct treatment to cervical manipulation in the treatment of Mechanical Neck Pain.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health in compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic at Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 / Due to sustained partial neck flexion when operating a computer terminal for prolonged periods and by holding a stooped posture being proposed aetiologies for hypertonic posterior cervical muscles and subsequent mechanical neck pain, subjects for this research study were chosen according to their occupation and had to sit at a desk for more the three hours and less than eight hours a day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with heat therapy as opposed to proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy in the treatment of mechanical neck pain caused by hypertonic posterior cervical muscles. This was a comparative, randomised, clinical trial consisting of two groups. Group A received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) combined with heat therapy as their treatment protocol. Group B received proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation combined with cryotherapy as their treatment protocol. Each group consisted of thirty people between the ages of 25 and 50 who were randomly allocated to their respective groups. It was hypothesized that the analgesic properties related to cryotherapy would result in the treatment group that received PNF stretching combined with cryotherapy yielding better results in terms of objective clinical findings. It was also hypothesized that the therapeutic effects of heat therapy would result in the treatment group receiving PNF stretching combined with heat therapy would yield better results in terms of subjective clinical findings and it is hypothesized that there is an association between the subjective and objective clinical findings between the cryotherapy and the heat therapy groups. The treatment regimen consisted of each participant receiving three treatments over a period of one week and then a one-week follow-up consultation. Subjective data monitored consisted of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale –101 (NRS-101) and the CMCC Neck Disability index. Objective data was collected using the Cervical Range of Motion goniometer (CROM) and the Algometer. At the end of all treatment protocols, statistical (quantitative) analysis was performed to determine whether one treatment protocol was more effective than the other. The analysis of the data collected showed that for all outcomes measured, either of the two treatments was effective overall. Trends suggested optimum treatments were dependent on the age of the patient. Age groups of 46-50 years old, 41-45 years old and the 31-35 years old responded best and improved the most with heat intervention, while age group of 36-40 years old responded best to the cryotherapy intervention. For the youngest age group of 25-30 years old, it did not make a difference whether they received heat therapy or cryotherapy as an intervention. It would seem that the older the patient the more effective the application of heat therapy as a result of the effect of heat therapy on the collagen and elastin fibers within the muscle and its fascia which allowed for increased and sustained improvement of the majority of the age groups represented in this study. Conversely it would seem that the cryotherapy group had only immediate and unsustained effects in the long term, which suggests that the cryotherapy had only a pain relieving function that allowed for the improvement of patients in the study, which when removed resulted in regression to the initial clinical syndrome severity. Most of the outcomes did not show a statistically significant interaction between time, age group and treatment group. The study was underpowered at the age group level, with only 12 subjects per age group. Further studies with a larger sample size in each of the age groups are needed in order to determine whether age is a definitive factor in one treatment being preferred over the other.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.Ost.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-123).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

M.Tech. (Chiropractic) / The aim of this study was to determine the most effective treatment protocol for cervical spine facet syndrome, with regards to treatment frequency. Group one was treated three times weekly, and group two was treated once weekly. Both groups were treated with chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine over a period of six treatments with a two week follow-up consultation. It was hypothesised that the group treated three times weekly would respond better compared to the once weekly treatment group. The study was a clinical trial involving two experimental groups of fifteen patients each (n=15), total sample size N=30. Volunteers responded to advertisements placed in the local press. Those who met the criteria, in other words suffered from cervical spine facet syndrome, were included in the study. Objective data was acquired using a goniometer to measure cervical spine range of motion. Subjective data was obtained by participants recording their progress on the Vemon-Miorneck pain and disability index and the Numerical pain rating scale. Data obtained from the range of motion testing showed that both groups responded with statistical significance to the treatment, but no statistically significant difference was obtained when the two respective groups were compared to each other. It was also noted that specifically rotation bilaterally for both groups, and left lateral flexion for group 1 (treated three times weekly), showed no statistically significant improvement at all. Statistical analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaires indicated that both groups responded with statistical significance to the treatment, but when group was compared to group 2, no statistically significant difference was noted between the two groups. This rejects the hypothesis that three times weekly chiropractic treatment is more beneficial to the patient, than once weekly chiropractic treatment. This study concluded that there was no statistical difference between the two above mentioned groups and no difference in response to different treatment frequencies. Therefore it shows that less frequent treatment is not to the detriment of the patients' progress and might be of benefit for achieving cost effectiveness.