Effect of Corrective Exercises on Cervicogenic Headache in Office Workers With Forward Head Posture

• Main Authors: Meisam Nobari, Seyed Asadullah Arslan, Mohammad Reza Hadian, Behnaz Ganji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2018-06-01
• Series: Journal of Modern Rehabilitation
• Subjects: Headache; Exercise training; Neck muscles; Posture; Neck pain
• Online Access: https://jmr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jmr/article/view/132

Introduction: Headache is one of the prevalent health problems that impose huge costs on economy. One type of the headache is cervicogenic headache caused by bad posture of cervical spine. To know the effect of corrective exercises on cervical headache by improving range of motion in joints and retraining specific postural muscles like anterior and deep flexor muscles of the neck. Materials and Methods: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 individuals were randomly selected and divided into two groups; control (medicine) and interventional (exercises) groups with 15 participants in each group. A validated digital camera (Cannon A95 PowerShot) was used to determine Forward Head Posture (FHP). The landmarks of the FHP were marked by using white 12-mm markers that included earlobe, C7 spinous process, and acromion process. Patients performed stretching, strengthening, and corrective exercises after receiving training. The obtained data were analyzed by ANCOVA, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results: The average difference in the scores of cervical headache in the experimental group was less than that in the control group which was statistically significant (P<0.001). Mean difference in the scores of cervical pain duration among experimental group was less than the control group and this difference was statistically significant, too (P<0.05). Conclusion: Corrective exercises had shown statistically significant effects on neck disability index, neck pain as well as on the pain intensity, its duration and frequency among office workers with FHP.