CF 378: Differences In Whiplash And Normal Neck Pain & Spinal Manipulative Therapy And Scoliosis Today we’re going to talk about Differences In Whiplash And Normal Neck Pain & SMT And Scoliosis But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music  

Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!

  OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are giving evidence-based chiropractic a little personality and making it profitable. We’re not the stuffy, judgemental, elitist, puffing on a pipe, pretentious kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. So grab you a 6-er.  I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.  I’m so glad you’re lending me your ear, spending your time with me and we’re learning this stuff together.  Chiropractors – I’m hiring at my personal clinic. I need talent, ambition, smarts, personality, and easy to get along with associates. If this is you and Amarillo, TX is your speed, send me an email at [email protected] Things you should do. 

You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #378 Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care & Screen Time and Depression. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class. 

On the personal end of things…..

Well what’s new this week? Still going through the sale process with the investment group you’ve heard me talk about in some of the past episodes. It’s a lot, ya know? Selling a percentage of your lifelong blood sweat and tears and your pride and joy isn’t something you go into lightly. But I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been.  They sent us a contract, our attorney pointed out his concerns, we sent those back to them, it took about 4 months but we got the contract back and are going through it to see what we can meet in the middle on. Once we firm that up, we should be good to go with the closing.  So that’s been going in the background for a long time. Like for a few years at one level or another but more seriously here in just the last year.

Hopefully, that chapter is about closed so we can start looking at the next chapter. 

Our Parker intern is doing great. She’s smart and very capable. All new DCs need as much adjusting time as they can get. I always think the Motion Palpation Institute is the best start anyone can get. Those folks are top tier. I’m personal friends with Dr. Mark King the President of MPI and with Dr. Lindsay Mumma, who is one of their instructors. I know the level of Doctors they have leading that and really respect them all and their organization. 

I know them through our Mastermind and speaking of Mastermind, we’ll all be in New Orleans on October 22nd through that weekend. Really looking forward to being with my people and for the first time ever, we will have Dr. Kevin Christie’s East Group and West Group combined meeting.  My group is the East group and we’ve never met the folks from the West group so it’ll be a good time to build and expand the network. Good stuff and really looking forward to it.  Dr. Jay Greenstein will be there as well and it’s always a good time with Jay. He’s got the vibe down. Also, Dr. Tim Bertlesman of ChiroUp will be there as well. Put those guys on top of Kevin, Mark King, Lindsay Mumma, Ben Fergus, David Rudnick, Vanessa Wilczak, Curt Kippenburger, Anthony Houssain, Tiffany and Tyler Armstrong, and all of my other great friends…..well….it’s going to be solid. As you can imagine.  Lastly, as you know we purchased the Kinas Miracle Wave Radial Shockwave unit last month, attended the shockwave masterclass a week and a half ago out in Atlanta, and are off to the races.   

Admittedly, we are behind some of our competitiors but I think with the knowledge base we get to draw from and the masterclass under our belt, we are well-positioned to catch up, differeniate from our competitors, and build this thing! If you need the Kinas hook-up, shoot me and email at [email protected] and I’ll get you in touch with the folks that can help you get started. 

Item #1 The first one today is called, “Effects of High-Velocity Spinal Manipulation on Quality of Life, Pain and Spinal Curvature in Children with Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Systematic Review” by Piqueras-Toharias et al and published in children in 2024.  Remember, the citations can be found at chiropracticforward.com under this episode. 

Piqueras-Toharias, M.; Ibáñez-Vera, A.J.; Peinado-Rubia, A.B.; Rodríguez-Almagro, D.; Lomas-Vega, R.; Sedeño-Vidal, A. Effects of High-Velocity Spinal Manipulation on Quality of Life, Pain and Spinal Curvature in Children with Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Systematic Review. Children 2024, 11, 1167. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11101167

Why They Did It

Scoliosis is a condition that involves deformation of the spine in the coronal plane and commonly appears in childhood or adolescence, significantly limiting a person’s life.  The cause is multifactorial, and treatment aims to improve the spinal curvature, prevent major pathologies, and enhance aesthetics.  The objective of this review was to determine whether high-velocity low-amplitude (HVLA) spinal manipulation is more effective than other treatments for children with idiopathic scoliosis (IS).

How They Did It The PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and PEDro databases were searched for both clinical trials and cohort studies.  Methodological quality was assessed via the PEDro scale (for clinical trials) and the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (for observational studies).  The protocol of this systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024532442).

What They Found Five studies were selected for review. The results indicated moderate improvements in pain and the Cobb angle and limited improvements in quality of life

Wrap It Up HVLA spinal manipulation does not seem to have significant effects on reducing spinal deformity in IS patients, nor does it significantly impact quality of life. 

However, this therapy may have significant effects on reducing pain in these patients.

Item #2 The last one this week is called, “Differences in the clinical presentation of chronic whiplash-associated disorders and nontraumatic neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis” by Junze et al and published in Pain in August 2025 and it’s a hot tamale hot tamale!

Chen, Junzea; Farrell, Scott F.a; Huang, Wanyun Irenea; Cagnie, Barbarab; Murillo, Carlosb; Sterling, Michelea,*. Differences in the clinical presentation of chronic whiplash-associated disorders and nontraumatic neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PAIN 166(8):p 1738-1756, August 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003554

Why They Did It

Health outcomes may be worse for individuals with whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) compared to nontraumatic neck pain (NTNP), and clinical characteristics may differ.  This systematic review examined evidence comparing WAD and NTNP in terms of pain, disability, psychological status, quality of life, measures of nociceptive processing, movement, sensorimotor, and muscle function.

How They Did It Studies were identified through electronic database searches and included after screening against predefined eligibility criteria. Standardized mean differences (SMD) or mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Associations between MDs with demographics and study characteristics were explored using meta-regression. Certainty of evidence was assessed using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Sixty-one studies were eligible with 45 included in meta-analysis.

What They Found Individuals with WAD reported 

No between-group differences were found for dizziness symptoms, stress, anxiety, balance, and local cold sensitivity. 

Wrap It Up Certainty of evidence was mostly moderate.  Individuals with chronic WAD have a worse clinical presentation compared to those with chronic non-traumatic neck pain, which has implications for patient assessment and management. Alright, that’s it. Keep on keepin’ on. Keep changing our profession from your corner of the world. The world needs evidence-based, patient-centered practitioners driving the bus. The profession needs us in the ACA and involved in leadership of state associations. So quit griping about the profession if you’re doing nothing to make it better. Get active, get involved, and make it happen. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week. 

Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.           

Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!

The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!

Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!

Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.  Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.  We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference. 

Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.

Website http://www.chiropracticforward.com

Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/

Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/

Twitter https://twitter.com/Chiro_Forward

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2

Player FM Link https://player.fm/series/2291021

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through

TuneIn https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health–Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/

About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (FIANM) and Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Professionals (DABFP) – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger      

The post Differences In Whiplash And Normal Neck Pain & Spinal Manipulative Therapy And Scoliosis appeared first on Chiropractic Forward.