The Effects of Local Vibration and Cervical Stabilization Exercises Applied on Neck Muscles on Balance in Healthy Individuals

In healthy individuals, many postural musculoskeletal problems arise due to various reasons. The cervical region is the region where these problems are most common. The cervical region ranks second in the general population after the lumbal area of musculoskeletal system disorders and affects close to 70% of the general population.The most important causes of this posture disorder are; muscular performance and strength are inadequate, as well as decreased proprioception of the muscles, deterioration of the individual balance systems that result in individual visual or vestibular problems.

Exercise therapy is at the forefront of these methods, while a variety of methods are applied in the prevention and treatment of neck problems. Recent studies have focused on multifaceted treatments including exercises to improve strength, endurance and coordination of cervical muscles, proprioceptive training, relaxation exercises to prevent muscle tension, stabilization exercises and behavior modification. Cervical stabilization exercises are a frequently used exercise approach. Cervical stabilization exercises, which are different from ordinary exercises, are based on biomechanics, neurophysiology and physiotherapy research. The main objective of this method is; improve body awareness, maintain posture uniformity, improve strength, endurance, coordination and proprioception. Stabilization exercises also increase the strength and endurance of the postural and stabilizer muscles, improving stability control in the stabilized and non-stabilized positions.

Another method that contributes to the development of balance and proprioceptive sense is vibration application. Proprioception plays an important role in ensuring the coordination of movements. When the proprioception input is disturbed, both the position sense and the speed of movement may be affected. Muscle-tendon vibration is a noninvasive method that is often used in proprioception studies. It has been suggested that the vibration application are the enhancing effect of the proprioceptive. However, there is not enough research on this subject.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the cervical stabilization exercises to be applied to the cervical region and the local vibration applied to the neck muscles are related to muscle performance, proprioception and balance and their superiority with each other.