The Effects of Exercise Therapy for Flexor and Extensor Cervical Muscles on Non-specific Neck Pain.
Condition: Neck Pain; Chronic Pain
MeSH terms: Chronic Pain; Neck Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Objective:

      To compare the effects craniocervical and cervicothoracic extension training versus deep
      cervical flexor training, both combined with conventional treatment, on disability, perceived
      pain, Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), endurance, active range of motion (AROM) of the
      cervical spine, joint position sense (JPS) and intake of drugs in subjects with non-specific
      chronic neck pain, referenced by the control group.

      Methods:

      The research will be done from December 2019 to August 2020 at the Recoletas Burgos Hospital.

      Fifty-four volunteers with non-specific chronic neck pain, recruited at the hospital, will be
      randomly assigned, using sealed envelopes, to 1 of the three groups.

      The first two experimental groups will be named Group A and Group B and each of them will go
      to the Rehabilitation Service for 4 weeks to perform the exercises under the supervision of
      the physiotherapist. This process will occur along with the conventional treatment (infrared
      heat, massage and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). These groups will differ
      between them in the muscles they will mainly train through training. The group A will perform
      a neck extensor muscles training and group B a deep cervical flexor muscles training. After
      these 4 weeks, these exercises will be performed by them on a daily routine which will be
      prescribed for 6 months at home.

      On the control group (group C), no intervention will be performed due to the fact that they
      will be still on the waiting list.

      Disability, pain, HRQoL and drug intake will be measured in pre-treatment, at 4 weeks
      (post-treatment) and at 6 months follow-up; endurance, AROM and JPS will be measured in
      pre-treatment and at 4 weeks (post-treatment); while demographic variables (height, weight
      and age) will only be measured at the baseline.
    


Intervention name(s): Neck extensors training versus deep cervical flexors training, compared to a control group.
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): During the first month, the participants of the experimental groups will come at Rehabilitation Service to do the exercises individually and supervised by the physiotherapist and to received the conventional treatment (10 minutes of infrared heat, 10 minutes of massage and 15 minutes of TENS). The last six months, they will perform daily home exercises.
A-group: the degrees respect to the floor in wich each participant can hold the craniocervical extension and the cervicothoracic extension during 5 seconds will bo measured with the BDI.
B-group: Using an air-filled pressure sensor placed behind the neck, the physiotherapist will identify the target level that the patient can hold steadily a craniocervical flexion (CCF) for 5 seconds in a controlled manner. They will train following the protocol described by Jull et al.
Of each of this exercises, they will perform 10 isometric contractions, at the corresponding degrees or target level, of 10 seconds with a rest of 3-5 seconds.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: It is a randomized controlled clinical trial with parallel groups.
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: neck pain; exercise; training; endurance; intervention