Jeff Langmaid explains why neck pain is hard to pin down: biological, psychological, and social factors all play a role, yet we rarely find clear structural causes on MRI. The study looks at which spine changes actually show up in people with neck pain and whether they matter clinically.
Now neck pain like low back pain is multifactorial. There are biological issues and causes, psychological issues, correlations and causes as well as social factors. But the evidence on the underlying pathology of neck pain is sparse. Sounds pretty similar to low back pain where nonspecific low back pain quote unquote is often the most common form of low back pain. But of course anytime that there is a symptom there is a reason for it. It's just that we haven't been able to specifically identify those reasons. And there also is thought to be a relationship of course between headaches and the structural changes that occur in the cervical spine. But how they play together can be somewhat unclear and clinical relevance of MRI defined structural changes does remain controversial. Where is the clinical relevance? That's part of what this study was trying to solve by taking a look at, well, what are the findings and how is it associated with those individuals that have the pain.
