The Effect of Functional Exercises on Balance With Postural Thoracic Kyphosis

In a normal spine, the sagittal plane has four curvatures that balance each other. The cervical and lumbar spine is lordotic, the thoracic spine and sacral region are kyphotic. In the sagittal plane, there is an average of 40 kyphosis angles between the T1 vertebrae upper end plate and the T12 vertebra lower end plate. Thoracic kyphosis is defined as an increase in the normal thoracic curvature (above 40) of the spine. Postural kyphosis usually occurs when individuals with weak muscle strength exert excessive external loads on their vertebrae. In rapidly growing young people, the abnormal flexion of the spine prevents the development of internal organs and excess thoracic kyphosis causes changes in respiratory functions, as well as postural disorders negatively affect the standing balance. In addition, the posture and appearance of young people with postural kyphosis are affected, which can affect their physical and psychological health.The incidence of hyper-kyphosis abnormality was reported to be 15.3% in 11 year-old children, 38% in 20 to 50 years old adults and 35% in 20 to 64 years old adults. This abnormality is managed by various methods including manual therapy, postural retraining, taping, orthoses and corrective exercises.

When a literature review was conducted, it was observed that no balance evaluation was performed in individuals between 18 and 25 years of age who had postural kyphosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Schroth-based functional exercise and postural exercise on balance, respiratory functions and thoracic angle, who has with postural kyphosis and 18-25 years of age.