Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep-Oct;12(5):51-59.

A randomized controlled trial to study the effect of gross myofascial release on mechanical neck pain referred to upper limb

Sweta V Gauns  1 , Peeyoosha V Gurudut  1
Affiliations

A randomized controlled trial to study the effect of gross myofascial release on mechanical neck pain referred to upper limb

Sweta V Gauns et al. Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2018 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objective: Mechanical neck pain (NP) with referred pain to upper limb is a common problem and often leads to functional impairment of common activities of daily living. The present study is undertaken to study and compare the effect of gross myofascial release (MFR) of upper limb and neck alone with conventional physiotherapy against only conventional treatment in subjects with mechanical NP referred to upper limb in terms of cervical endurance, pain, range of motion, and function.

Methods: Design: This was a experimental study; a total of 40 subjects clinically diagnosed with mechanical NP along with referred pain between the age group of 20 and 50 years. Intervention: Control group was given conventional treatment of hot moist pack, TENS, and stretching and strengthening exercise, and experimental group was given gross MFR of the neck and upper limb in addition to conventional therapy. Treatment was given for 6 consecutive days. Outcome measures used were pressure biofeedback to measure cervical endurance, goniometer for cervical ROM, Northwick Park NP questionnaire, and disabilities of arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire.

Results: Statistically significant change was present for pain, cervical flexure endurance, ROM, and functional abilities with P < 0.05 for both the groups except for neck flexor endurance in control group.

Conclusion: Gross MFR of upper limb and neck is an effective technique for subjects with mechanical NP and has a faster rate of improvement.

Keywords: Cervical flexor endurance; gross myofascial release technique; mechanical neck pain; myofascial release; referred pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Measuring cervical flexor endurance
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stretching exercise-Home exercise protocol
Figure 3
Figure 3
Strengthening exercise-Home exercise protocol
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a-c) Gross stretch of posterior cervical musculature
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a-d) Gross stretch of upper quarter: Arm pull
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bovim G, Schrader H, Sand T. Neck pain in the general population. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1994;19:1307–9. - PubMed
    1. Fejer R, Kyvik KO, Hartvigsen J. The prevalence of neck pain in the world population:A systematic critical review of the literature. Eur Spine J. 2006;15:834–48. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sharan d. A Prevalence study of neck disorders in Bangalore. [[Last accessed on 2016 Jan 10]];Deccan Heralds. 2004-2005 2:23–35. Available from: http://www.deepak.sharan.com/toicolumn .
    1. Darivemula SB, Goswami K, Gupta SK, Salve H, Singh U, Goswami AK, et al. Work-related neck pain among desk job workers of tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India:Burden and determinants. Indian J Community Med. 2016;41:50–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. International Association for the Study of Pain (Iasp) Pain Terminology. Seattle: IASP; 2004. Iasp Task Force for Taxonomy.

LinkOut - more resources