Immediate Effect of Craniosacral Therapy on Postpartum Neck Pain – an Experimental Study.

The study will involve obtaining ethical clearance, recruiting participants, collecting demographic data, and assessing postpartum women aged 21-40, hospitalized in the tertiary health care facility in Belagavi, Karnataka, will be randomly assigned to 2 clusters based on the presence or absence of neck pain symptoms. The cluster comprising women experiencing neck pain will receive craniosacral therapy, with assessments conducted before and after the therapy session. The participants will be asked to fill out the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) questionnaires to measure their neck pain intensity and self-rated disability resulting from neck pain.  The Pressure Biofeedback Unit will be utilized as an objective measuring tool for assessing neck movement and strength of the cervical muscles. The scores and values from the NPRS, NDI questionnaires and Pressure Biofeedback Unit will be tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted to determine the intensity, weakness and resulting disability from postpartum neck pain. Following the completion of all outcome measures, the subject will then undergo Craniosacral therapy in a quiet, peaceful, and well-ventilated room for 30 minutes. During the session, the subject will be instructed to lie supine on the bed with the head resting on a pillow and arms comfortably resting on either side of the body. The therapist will be sitting at the head end of the subject and will gently place their hands on the cranium, sub-occipital region and shoulders of the patient to offer craniosacral therapy.   Following the craniosacral therapy, a follow-up assessment will be conducted 24 hours after the intervention. During this assessment, the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Pressure Biofeedback Unit measurements will be taken again. The data will then be tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted to assess any changes in the severity and disability resulting from postpartum neck pain.