One step forward...

JW had me reeling after his post yesterday describing the irrational and irresponsible decision by BC/BS of Minnesota to stop paying for manual therapy codes.  Decisions like this are a real kick in the teeth to the physical therapy profession.  Our hands are our tools, and just as you wouldn't expect a carpenter to work without a hammer or a surgeon to work without a knife, it is complete nonsense to expect a profession grounded in hands-on techniques to work without their hands.  Our ability to defense bad calls like this is only as strong as the evidence supporting our interventions.

Thankfully, this bad news was significantly tempered by a much more optimistic release in the form of a study published in Spine (which JW briefly mentioned as well).  Walker et al published, "The Effectiveness of Manual Physical Therapy and Exercise for Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial." [via PubMed]

I have given this paper a thorough review on NPA Think Tank, so if you have some time, head over and check out my post there.  For those on the fly, here is the take home:

Manual physical therapy and exercise was compared to a minimal intervention approach.  Subjects included those with mechanical neck pain with or without upper extremity symptoms.  Both thrust and non-thrust joint mobilizations were used over a 6 session treatment period.

● "Manual physical therapy and exercise was significantly more effective in reducing neck pain and disability, and increasing patient-perceived improvements during short- and long-term follow-ups."

This is a solid study which will garner some serious attention.  Each time a report like this comes out, the entire profession takes a giant step foward, and will hopefully be more effective in stomping out terrible decisions like that made by BC/BS of Minnesota.  JW is right, this study helps make an impairment-based manual physical therapy and exercise approach to mechanical neck pain a "slam dunk!"

ERIC

Photo courtesy of FreeBirD via Flickr