Stretching and Self-Myofascial Release in Helicopter Aircrew to Reduce Neck and Back Pain (Phase 1)

This prospective intervention study was designed to determine the efficacy of a standardized Preflight/Postflight Stretches (PPS) protocol to reduce subjective neck and back pain scores in helicopter aircrew. Aircrew transient back and neck pain is well documented, and there is currently no standardized preflight and postflight stretching protocol for Naval Aviation.

Subjects were recruited from two carrier air wing MH-60R squadrons at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. These carrier air wing squadrons were selected to control for size (number of aircrew), age, and operational tempo (number of flight hours). Subjects consisted of both pilots and enlisted aircrew. One squadron was designated as the control group, although the second squadron served as the intervention group. Subjects from both groups filled out the questionnaire. Only the intervention group completed the PPS protocol immediately after completing the questionnaire and before departing the squadron spaces for the aircraft outside. Upon landing, the aircrew completed a postflight debrief. Only the intervention group completed the PPS protocol after debrief. Both the intervention and control groups once again completed the questionnaire. Questionnaires were matched by using a generated anonymous subject ID. The amounts of change and pain levels were then compared using the Mann-Whitney test and the Fisher's exact test, respectively.

The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test found the data to be nonparametric. The preflight and postflight overall (P ≤ .001), cervical (P ≤ .001), thoracic (P = .006), and lumbar (P = .004) differences between the control and intervention groups were found to be statistically significant when using the Mann-Whitney test. Preflight and postflight pain differences in the sacral region and "other" section were not found to be statistically significant (sacral, P = .618; others, P = .182). When evaluating the worsening of the pain level, 50 (92%) of the control flights in which PPS was not performed reported worse pain, compared to 21 (61.8%) in the intervention group where PPS was performed. The Fisher's exact test found the association between performing PPS and the worsening in pain to be statistically significant (P = .001) in the overall, cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions. Therefore, the hypothesis was accepted in regard to overall pain, as well as in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions.

Aircrew back and neck pain because of flying is well documented. However, there is no standardized stretching protocol for aircrew to perform immediately preflight or postflight in U.S. Naval Aviation. This study demonstrated that PPS, a simple 5- to 7-min stretching routine, gives aircrew structure and can reduce postflight cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and overall pain. This phase proved to be safe as no adverse events were reported. The prehabilitation aspect could reduce conventional medical intervention, costly pharmacological management of neck and back pain, and be applied to other aviation populations in military and civilian communities.