Effects of Deep Cervical Flexor Training on Forward Head Posture, Neck Pain, and Functional Status in Adolescents...

In contemporary societies, computer use by children is a necessity and thus highly prevalent. Using computers for long hours is related to a higher risk of computer-related muscular disorders like forward head posture (FHP) and neck pain (NP). Deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscles are important head-on-neck posture stabilizers; thus, their training may lead to an improvement in FHP and NP. The aim of this study was to determine if 4 weeks of DCF training is effective in alleviating NP, improving FHP, and functional status in adolescent children using computers regularly, a pretest-posttest experimental group design was used. Subjects were randomly assigned into the experimental group (receiving DCF training and postural education) and the control group (receiving postural education only). 30 subjects with a mean age of 15.7 ± 1.725 years with NP and FHP using computers regularly participated in the study. Dependent variables were measured on day 1 (at baseline) and after 4 weeks of training. Photographic analysis was used for measuring FHP, visual analog scale for NP intensity, and neck disability index for functional status. Data analysis showed that in both groups, no significant improvement occurred in FHP. In both groups, there was a significant improvement in functional status and NP. There was no significant difference between both groups for FHP and NP. There was a significant improvement in functional status in the experimental group in comparison to the control group. Four weeks of DCF training does not cause a significant improvement in FHP in 13 to 18 years old adolescent children using computers regularly.