Effects of ElDOA and Post-Facilitation Stretching Technique on Pain and Disability in Patients With Text Neck Syndrome

Plain-language summary

In this modern era, Text Neck is a new term used to describe neck pain and associated damage caused by continuous flexed posture due to excessive use of smartphones for a long time. The term text neck was first introduced by Dr. Dean L. Fishman, who is US based chiropractor. Text neck can also be described as overuse syndrome caused by repetitive stress on neck due to prolonged flexion. There is coordinated work between cervical spine and surrounding structure such as muscles, ligament, nerves and bones. In addition, any nerve compression at cervical spine leads to radiating pain in neck, shoulder and arm. Previous literature reported use of cell phone is very common in population of 18 to 44 years of age. Seventy nine percent (79%) population have smartphone with them all the time. Technology has become essential part of modern lifestyle. Sustained flexed posture forces the head to exert weight on neck of varying degrees. Weight of neutral head is 10 to 12 pounds and increases 6 times 1 inch forward movement of head. Children are at higher risk because of their large head size. This study will be a Randomized clinical trial with objective to reduce neck pain and disability in patients with text neck syndrome. Two groups will be designed, in one group ElDOA (n=20) and in other group post facilitation technique (n=20) will be applied. Patients will be recruited into two groups by consecutive sampling by non-replacement lottery method with equal no. of chits. Patients will be assessed by Numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), Neck disability index (NDI), smartphone addiction scale before and after treatment. Both groups will receive heating pad as common treatment first after that group A will be treated with ELDOA and group B will be treated with Post-facilitation. Session of 6 weeks with 3 days per week will be conducted. After that post treatment assessment will be done.

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