Fig. 1

Pain intensity at baseline and one week, one month, three months, six months and one year after treatment start. The values in the numeric rating scale (NRS) significantly improved within the first year after start of chiropractic treatment from 5.03 (± SD 2.06) points at baseline to 3.36 (± SD 2.26) after one week, to 2.36 (± SD 2.44) after one month, to 2.32 (± SD 2.61) after three months, to 1.99 (± SD 2.28) after six months and to 1.81 (± SD 2.21) points after one year. Pain reduction was significant from baseline to all time points (p’s < 0.001) and from one week to all time points (p’s < 0.001). The error bars represent ±1 standard deviation. NRS=Numeric rating scale; ***p < 0.001