Effects of Cervical Mobilization and Craniocervical Flexion Exercise on the Dynamic Balance and Gait Variability in Chronic Neck Pain Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of Cervical Mobilization on Balance and Gait Parameters in Individuals With Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Stroke survivors often suffer from thoracic kyphosis and forward head posture (FHP) that further impairs balance and gait by contributing to possible weakness of deep neck muscles, loss of proprioceptive receptors in muscles, fascia, and joints, muscular imbalance (including weakness of cervical flexors and shortening of cervical extensors), and dysfunction of cervical joints (dysfunction of upper cervical extension and dysfunction of lower cervical flexion). In addition, FHP can affect blood flow to the brain and lead these individuals to exhibit a collapsed position (Choi et al, 2020). Manual therapy techniques (joint mobilization and myofascial release) in the cervical spine may improve motor control by enhancing and subsequently regulating proprioception transmitted from the spinal segment to the central nervous system (Aggarwal et al, 2022; Sterling et al, 2001).…”

“…Cervical mobilization (CM) may improve balance and gait posture (GP) by reducing muscle spasms, correcting dysfunctions in cervical joints, and accelerating blood flow to the brain (Gyer et al, 2019; Katz et al, 2019) Although some investigators have reported positive effects of CM on balance in healthy individuals and in patients with orthopedic problems, there has been limited research examining CM effects on balance and GP in stroke survivors (T. Choi et al, 2019; T.S. Choi et al, 2020; Maden et al, 2022), leading us to undertake this investigation. We aimed to investigate the effects of CM, performed in 12 sessions over four weeks, on balance and GP in individuals with chronic stroke, with this hypothesis:…”