Adjusting Increases Upper Cervical Rotation by 100% in 10 Cases of Atlantoaxial Osteoarthritis

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE:   J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2011 (Feb); 34 (2): 131-137

Hong Yu, MD, Shuxun Hou, MD,
Wenwen Wu, MD, Xiaohua He, MD

Department of Orthopedics,
The 1st Affiliated Hospital of the General Military Hospital,
Beijing, China

This new case series, managed by the Department of Orthopedics, in the General Military Hospital of Beijing, China, involved 10 patients with idiopathic degenerative and posttraumatic atlantoaxial osteoarthritis. They were treated with upper cervical chiropractic adjusting, in combination with mobilization device therapy.

Outcome measures included self-reported pain using a numeric pain scale (NPS) (1-10, with 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst possible pain), physical examination findings, and radiologic changes.

The reported results were quite impressive:

  • Pre to post pain findings included a reduction of pain from 8.6 to 2.6
  • Rotation of C1 upon C2 increased from 28° to 52°, effectively doubling upper cervical range of motion.
  • Restoration of joint space was observed in 6 patients
  • Clinical improvement was rated as “good” to “excellent” by 80% of these patients!

There are more materials like this in our:
Case Reports Section