Effect of Global Posture Reeducation and of Static Stretching on Pain, Range of Motion, and Quality of Life in Women with Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Cunha ACV, Burke TN, França FJR, Marques AP. Effect of global posture reeducation and of static stretching onto pain, range of motion, and quality of life in women with chronic neck pain: a random clinical trial. Clinics. 2008;63:763-70. PURPOSE:Compare the effect of conventional static stretching and muscle chain stretching, as proposed by the global posture reeducation method, in the manual therapy of patients with chronic neck pain. METHODS: Thirty-three female patients aged 35 to 60 years old, 31 of whom completed the program, were randomly divided into two groups: The global posture reeducation group (n=15) performed muscle chain stretching, while the conventional stretching group (n=16) performed conventional static muscle stretching. Both groups also underwent manual therapy. Patients were evaluated before and after treatment and at a six-week follow-up appointment and tested for pain intensity (by means of visual analog scale), range of motion (by goniometry), and health-related quality of life (by the SF-36 questionnaire). The treatment program consisted of two 1-hour individual sessions per week for six weeks. Data were statistically analyzed at a significance level of p<0.05. RESULTS: Significant pain relief and range of motion improvement were observed after treatment in both groups, with a slight reduction at follow-up time. Quality of life also improved after treatment, except for the global posture reeducation group in one domain; at follow-up, there was improvement in all domains, except that both groups reported increased pain. There were no significant differences between groups CONCLUSION: Conventional stretching and muscle chain stretching in association with manual therapy were equally effective in reducing pain and improving the range of motion and quality of life of female patients with chronic neck pain, both immediately after treatment and at a six-week follow-up, suggesting that stretching exercises should be prescribed to chronic neck pain patients.

Comorbidade de sintomas ansiosos e depressivos em pacientes com dor crônica e o impacto sobre a qualidade de vida

“…Chronic pain plays a significant role in incapacitation, making it impossible for individuals to perform physical activities 3 . In addition, this condition is usually comorbid with psychiatric disorders, especially major depression 4,5 .…”

Efeito agudo da técnica de reeducação postural global na postura de mulheres com encurtamento da cadeia muscular anterior

“…O alinhamento horizontal do piso, do tripé e da máquina foi aferido com um nível de madeira (6). Embora a técnica seja muito difundida em paí-ses, como Brasil, França, Itália e Espanha, e diversos fisioterapeutas utilizarem a técnica com resultados empíricos (14), poucos estudos são encontrados sobre a técnica de RPG (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

“…Alguns demonstraram a sua eficácia no tratamento da incontinência urinária (17), espondilite anquilosante (15)(16)18), dor crônica de quadril (14), melhora das funções respiratórias (18)(19)(20) e melhora do centro de força corporal (21). Em relação ao efeito agudo do RPG sobre a postura, nenhum estudo foi encontrado até o momento.…”

“…Após o participante estar posicionado na postura, este permaneceu por quatro minutos e realizou mais três repetições de quatro minutos cada uma, com um minuto de intervalo entre as repetições, totalizando 20 minutos (14). Em cada repetição da postura houve evoluções (variantes) no membro superior de 30° no sentido da abdução e no membro inferior de 15cm de deslizamento caudal dos pés, desta forma ocorreu uma abertura progressiva do ângulo do ombro e quadril respectivamente.…”

Comparison Between a Trunk Training Machine and Conventional Exercises For Trunk Extensors and Effect on Stance Weight Distribution of Young Adults: A Pilot Study.

“…Another function that is often observed to improve with resistance training is postural stability (21,22). In addition to strength exercises, muscle stretching exercises are also used in conventional physical therapy (23). Stretching can provide a range of health-related motion benefits.…”