The effect of manual therapy and stabilizing exercises on forward head and rounded shoulder postures: a six-week intervention with a one-month follow-up study

Kiana Fathollahnejad, Amir Letafatkar, Malihe Hadadnezhad, Kiana Fathollahnejad, Amir Letafatkar, Malihe Hadadnezhad

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a six-week combined manual therapy (MT) and stabilizing exercises (SEs), with a one-month follow-up on neck pain and improving function and posture in patients with forward head and rounded shoulder postures (FHRSP).

Methods: Sixty women with neck pain and FHRSP were randomized into three groups: Group 1 performed SE and received MT (n = 20), Group 2 performed SE (n = 20) and Group 3 performed home exercises (n = 20) for six weeks. The follow-up time was one month after the post test. The pain, function, and head and shoulder angles were measured before and after the six-week interventions, and during a one-month follow-up.

Results: There were significant within-group improvements in pain, function, and head and shoulder posture in groups 1 and 2. There were significant between-group differences in groups 1 and 2 in head posture, pain, and function favoring group 1 with effect size 0.432(p = 0.041), 0.533 (P = 0.038), and 0.565(P = 0.018) respectively. There were significant between-group differences in both intervention groups versus the control group favoring the intervention groups.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that both interventions were significantly effective in reducing neck pain and improving function and posture in patients. However, the improvement in function and pain were more effective in Group 1 as compared to Group 2, suggesting that MT can be used as a supplementary method to the stabilizing intervention in the treatment of neck pain. More researches are needed to confirm the result of this study.

Trial registration: UMIN000030141 modified on 2018.03.08. This study is a randomized control trial registered at UMIN-CTR website, the trial was retrospectively registered and the unique trial number is UMIN000030141 .

Keywords: Forward head posture; Function; Manual therapy; Neck pain; Stabilization exercises.

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science of the Kharazmi University. The patients were informed about the details of the study and provided written informed consent before study enrollment. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants, and procedures were conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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