Comparison Between Soft Tissue Mobilization and Strengthening Exercises in Management of Local Neck Syndrome
Condition: Chronic Pain; Neck Pain
MeSH terms: Chronic Pain; Neck Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      A single-blinded, parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted at the national
      institute of rehabilitation medicine, Pakistan, from April to July 2016, on 30 females who
      were recruited through non-probability convenient sampling technique and randomly allocated
      to the experimental and control group.
    

Detailed description: 
      The experimental group received STM and neck isometric strengthening exercises, whereas the
      control group received neck isometrics strengthening exercises only. Numeric Pain Rating
      Scale (NPRS) was used to assess the pain intensity, while Neck Disability Index (NDI) was
      used to assess the neck-related disability. The data was collected pre-, during, and
      post-intervention. Repeated measure analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) was used to analyze
      within the group changes, while independent t-test was used to analyze the differences
      between the groups. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 21.

      This study describes the comparative effectiveness of STM when used as adjunct to
      strengthening exercises and when strengthening exercises are used alone for the management of
      TNS. According to the results of this study, STM in combination with neck isometric
      strengthening exercises as well as exercises alone were effective for managing neck pain and
      functional disability when a comparison was made within the groups.
    

Intervention name(s): soft tissue mobilization; neck isometric strengthening exercises
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): In this group, each participants received 45-minutes long session that includes 25-minutes of soft tissue mobilization and 20-minutes of neck isometric strengthening exercises. In each session, patient was seated on chair and sustained pressure, direct oscillation, perpendicular mobilization, parallel mobilization, and friction massage was applied on the neck musculature for a minute followed by a release for 30 seconds. This protocol was repeated three times in each session. Each session was repeated four-times a week for two-weeks (a total eight sessions).; In this group, each participant received 20-minutes long session. Each session started in seated position and participants were asked to perform flexion, extension, side bending and rotation against resistance. During flexion movement, therapist placed hand on forehead and asked patient to move the neck forward, while in extension, therapist hand was placed at back of the head and patient had to move neck in backward direction. However, in side bending and rotation- therapist hand was placed at lateral side of the head and asked patient to side bend the neck and look at shoulder in the same direction respectively. Each session was repeated four-times a week for two-weeks (a total eight sessions).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Factorial Assignment
Intervention model description: The randomized control study was conducted in two groups,one was experimental group received soft tissue mobilization and other was control group received strengthening exercises with supportive treatment for both groups.
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: Assessment; Neck pain; Pain measurements; Patient outcome assessment; Treatment outcome