OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of a semi-customized experimental cervical pillow on symptomatic adults with chronic neck pain (with and without headache) during a four week study. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SAMPLE SIZE: Thirty-six adults were recruited for the trial, and randomly assigned to experimental or nonexperimental groups of 17 and 19 participants respectively. SUBJECTS: Adults with chronic biomechanical neck pain who were recruited from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) Walk-in Clinic. OUTCOME MEASURES: Subjective findings were assessed using a mail-in self-report daily pain diary, and the CMCC Neck Disability Index (NDI). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Using repeated measure analysis of variance weekly NDI scores, average weekly AM and PM pain scores between the experimental and nonexperimental groups were compared throughout the study. RESULTS: The experimental group had statistically significant lower NDI scores (p < 0.05) than the nonexperimental group. The average weekly AM scores were lower and statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the experimental group. The PM scores in the experimental group were lower but not statistically significant than the other group. CONSLUSIONS: The study results show that compared to conventional pillows, this experimental semi-customized cervical pillow was effective in reducing low-level neck pain intensity, especially in the morning following its use in a 4 week long study.

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