Patients receiving cervical manipulation sometimes experience post-manipulation soreness. In this study, researchers randomly assigned patients with non-radicular mechanical neck pain to a group receiving Biofreeze topical analgesic to their neck, or a placebo gel group. They measured pain and cervical range of motion before and after the gel applications. 30 minutes after the manipulation, the patients receiving Biofreeze gel had significantly less pain compared to the group receiving the placebo gel. Specifically, the Biofreeze group reduced their pain by 3 points on a scale of 10, while the placebo group only decreased 1.5 points. There was no significant difference in ROM between the groups.
Topp R et al. 2017. Topical Menthol Gel Versus a Placebo Gel on Postmanipulation Pain and Range of Motion in Patients With Mechanical Neck Pain J Perform Health Res 1(2):40-47