Effect of Cervical Mobility on Cardiovascular And Respiratory Outcomes Among Young Adults

Neck pain is the sense of discomfort that could be felt in the cervical and upper thoracic region. It's an ubiquitous human perception. Non-specific neck pain has a postural or mechanical basis and affects about two thirds of people at some stage, especially in the middle age. Acute neck pain resolves within days or weeks, but may become chronic in about 10% of people. Many individuals have asymptomatic neck pain due to various hidden pathologies and improper postural characteristics which is only noticeable after detailed screening and scans.

Heart and lungs are the main organs housed by the thoracic cage with all their vascular and nervous supply passing through the cervical and the thoracic spine. The respiratory system could be affected by the musculoskeletal system of the body. As there are accessory respiratory muscles of respiration that are attached to the neck, chest wall and/or abdomen.

Bad posture, for instance, can lead to reduction in power of the neck muscles hence reducing power of the respiratory muscles creating negative effect on the thoracic expansion, alveolar ventilation, reducing lung volume and vital capacity.

Every health system is indicated by certain measures, vital signs are indicative of the health of cardiovascular and respiratory system as well as body as a whole. These physiological observations generally include blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and ventilation rate (VR), temperature (Temp), and oxygen saturation (SPO2) in the blood. Another vital sign, known as the fifth vital sign is Pain.

Changes or deviation of the vital signs from its normal ranges help evaluate and manage any adverse event such as cardiac arrest or sudden death and help in preventing many such deadly events by early recognition and prompt treatments and also help reduce mortality and morbidity.

Several studies have been known to show that alterations in vital signs are not only seen as a result of any pathological event but also any non-pathological as well. Any type of physiological movements of body part such as the spine as a whole or interventional movements, several exercises, mobilization or manipulations, to any segment of the spine like cervical, thoracic or lumbar, have a specific effect on the vital signs.