Effect of Cervical and Shoulder Complex Exercises on Improvement of Forward Head Posture

Background: Forward head posture is anterior positioning of the head with respect to neck in sagittal plane. Craniovertebral angle is used to measure forward head posture. Craniovertebral angle is formed at the junction of a line drawn from the tragus of the ear through the spinous process of the C7 vertebra and a horizontal line through the C7 vertebra. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cervical and shoulder complex exercises on improvement of forward head posture. Objectives: To improve the forward head posture by- Cervical and shoulder complex exercises. Method: 30 participants, whose craniovertebral angle (CVA) was less than 50° were selected and further divided into experimental group (Group-A) (15 participants) and control group (Group- B) (15 participants). Photos of participants in standing position were taken using mobile camera and craniovertebral angle was measured using autocad software. Experimental group performed exercises such as chin tucks, cervical posterior isometric, scapular retraction exercise, Y to W exercise, middle trapezius fibres muscle strengthening exercise for 6 week interval. Whereas the control group was asked to carry on with routine activities. Pre (0th week ), mid (4th week), and post (6th week ) photos of participants of both groups were taken to see the effect of exercises along with numerical pain rating and neck disability score Results: This study signified that craniovertebral angle (p value=0.001), numerical pain rating scale score ( p value=0.001) and neck disability index scores (p value=0.001) were statistically significant. Conclusion: This study proved that 6 week cervical and shoulder complex exercises protocol has significant effect in improving forward head posture and reducing neck pain and neck disability. Keywords: Autocad software, Craniovertebral angle, chin tucks, forward head posture, neck pain, neck disability