Home › Archive › Volume 6, Issue 1
K. Lokeshwari
Anita David
A. ShanmugaPriya
Neck pain from poor posture can be explained as in an upright position the head is supported by the spinal vertebrae. Once the head is flexed forward, for example while using a laptop, the vertebrae do not support the weight of the head as much. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments work harder to hold up the head, which is roughly the weight of a bowling ball. Over time, the muscles and other soft ti ssues tighten up due to the excessive workload required to hold the head in position. The anterior neck muscles become weak from being stretched, and neural structures are kept in less than optimal positions. A quasi experimental study design was used to assess the effectiveness of deep flexor muscle strengthening exercise for neck pain disability among adolescents. 60 students were selected from two schools for the study, 30 from each school for experimental and control group. Neck disability was assessed from students using neck disability scale. Experimental group received demonstration on deep flexor muscle strengthening exercise for 30 mins. The results of the study shows that 45(37.5%) of the adolescents in study group and 37(32.5%) in the control group had mild disability respectively. Most of the adolescents in the both the group had mild disability due to carrying heavy schoolbags, reading and writing with head down posture for long period of time. The re was a significant difference in the mean difference score of overall neck pain disability score between the study and control group at the level of p<.001. There was also significant difference in the mean score of study and control group in the factors like reading, headache, concentration and lifting at the level of p<.01 and p<.05 respectively. The study concluded that the adolescent students were experiencing mild neck pain disability. Regular practice of deep flexor muscle strengthening exercise is an effective way to reduce the level of neck pain disability among adolescents.
Keywords: Neck pain disability, Adolescent students