Introduction
Chronic neck pain and related disability are common conditions seen in chiropractic practices. As part of the treatment and management of these conditions, cervical pillows are often utilized, despite the lack of significant evidence as to the therapeutic value of these pillows. Accordingly, this study was performed to determine the therapeutic value of the Chiroflow™ waterbase™ pillow for patients with chronic neck pain.
Methods
Prior to enrollment of subjects, all aspects of the study were approved by the Institutional Review Board of Logan College of Chiropractic. Subjects with chronic neck pain who were currently undergoing chiropractic care for this condition were asked to participate in this study. The study was composed of two phases, a 30 day baseline period in which subjects kept a daily sleep diary while using their usual sleep pillow, and a second 30 day period in which subjects kept a daily sleep diary while sleeping with a waterbase pillow. The sleep diary, utilizing a 100mm visual analog scale, tracked quality of sleep, perception of being rested, and morning neck pain and quantitative measures of sleep. At the start of the baseline period, at the end of the baseline period, and at the end of the second 30 day period, each subject completed the Neck Pain Disability Questionnaire.
Results
Thirty-eight subjects were initially enrolled in this study. Of these, 3 male and 31 female subjects (43.9 ± 13.1 years) with chronic neck pain (mean duration of 3.6 ± 2.1 years) completed this study. The Tables below show the mean values of the data collected at the assessment points during the study.