Comparison of the Efficiency of Manual Therapy and Exercise in People With Mechanical Neck Pain

Mechanical neck pain (MNP) is defined as neck pain that becomes evident with the posture of the cervical region, movement or palpation of the cervical region muscles, felt in the cervical, occipital or posterior scapular region without spreading to the upper extremity, and without any trauma or specific pathology underlying the complaints. MNP causes symptoms such as pain in the cervical region, increased sensitivity to pressure, decrease in active range of motion (ROM) of the cervical region, drowsiness, and dizziness. Most of the MNP cases are due to muscular or paraspinal soft tissue problems and show improvement in the first 6 weeks with conservative treatment methods. When the current treatment recommendations are examined according to the duration of neck pain accompanied by limitation of movement, an exercise program that includes thoracic region mobilization, cervical ROM exercises, and strengthening and stretching exercises for the scapulothoracic region and upper extremity muscles is recommended for acute neck pain. In addition, various manual therapy techniques can be applied to the cervical region.

In subacute neck pain, an exercise program is applied to increase the endurance of the neck and upper extremity muscles. During this period, various manual therapy methods can be applied to the thoracic and cervical region. In chronic neck pain, combined treatment applications including various exercises, mobilization and manipulation techniques, dry needling, laser and intermittent manual/mechanical traction are recommended. It is stated that the high-velocity low-amplitude technique, which is among the manual therapy techniques and used in many musculoskeletal problems, can increase the ROM, decrease the pain and improve the function.

Various manual therapy techniques and various exercises are reported to have positive effects on neck pain. However, the isolated effects of these techniques in people with MNP are not fully known. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effects of two different treatment programs in which the manual therapy technique and the exercise program are applied in individuals with MNP. In addition, comparing the effect of the treatment program in which manual therapy and exercise program are applied together with the isolated effects of these techniques is another aim.