按照一項最新的研究，頸椎過度屈伸損傷的侵入性治療需要長時的恢復而不是短時間的治療。

加拿大多倫多的研究學者回顧了1,693例成年頸椎過度屈伸病人，這些病人在1994年7月1日到同年12月31日內被診斷為該病。時間的選擇主要是因為該地保險系統的改變。分析的終止時間為恢復的終點，按照天來計算，從疾病的診斷開始到恢復。

學者發現那些拜訪家庭醫生兩次或更少的病人（但是這些病人的診斷結果不是頸椎過度屈伸）表現最好，恢復的終位時間為323天。而那些拜訪脊椎指壓治療師六次以上的病人需要363天。而最差的恢復時間是那些訪問家庭醫生次數很多加上訪問脊椎指壓治療師六次以上，這些病人的恢復時間為689天。這項報告發表于關節炎治療和研究雜志2007年6月號。

研究表明，頸椎過度屈伸損傷的預后受損傷后第一月內治療類型和密度的影響。

按照學者的說法，以上的研究結論可能是過度依賴于醫療可能是“被動治療”的一種方式。相比之下，最少的治療可能會促進受傷部位的活動，這可能是迅速恢復的原因。


Whiplash Treatment Benefits from Benign Neglect 

Aggressive medical care of a whiplash injury is associated with a longer time to recovery than minimal care, claims a new study. 

Researchers at the University Health Network (Toronto, Canada) looked at medical and insurance records of 1,693 adult patients in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan who had claims for whiplash between July 1, 1994 and December 31, 1994. The cut-off date was chosen because the province’s insurance system changed at the end of 1994 from a tort-based to a no-fault system. The primary endpoint of the analysis was time to recovery, defined as the number of days between the beginning and the end of the insurance claim. 

The researchers found that patients who visited a family doctor twice or less (but for whom the submitted diagnosis was not whiplash) did best, with a median time to recovery of 323 days, followed by those who had one or two visits to the doctor, at 362 days, and patients with more than six visits to a chiropractor, at 363 days. The worst recovery time was for patients who made any number of visits to a family doctor, combined with more than six visits to a chiropractor, who had a median time to recovery of 689 days. The study was reported in the June 2007 issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research. 

he results support the hypothesis that the prognosis of whiplash injuries is influenced by the type and intensity of care received within the first month after injury,?concluded Pierre C.D.C., Ph.D., and colleagues. 

According to the researchers, one possible explanation for the finding is that over-reliance on medical care is a form of "passive coping strategy," which reinforces the view that whiplash often leads to disability. In contrast, minimal care that promotes activation of the injured region is more likely to result in a quicker recovery.