Tomás Gallego Izquierdo, Daniel Pecos-Martin, Enrique Lluch Girbés, Gustavo Plaza-Manzano, Ricardo Rodríguez Caldentey, Rodrigo Mayor Melús, Diego Blanco Mariscal, Deborah Falla
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2034

Objective: To compare the effects of cranio-cervical flexion vs cervical proprioception training on neuromuscular control, pressure pain sensitivity and perceived pain and disability in patients with chronic neck pain.
Methods: Twenty-eight volunteers with chronic non-specific neck pain were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 interventions and undertook 6 physiotherapist-supervised sessions over a period of 2 months. Both groups performed daily home exercise. Performance on the cranio-cervical flexion test, pressure pain thresholds and reported levels of pain and disability were measured before and immediately after the first treatment session, 1 month after starting treatment and 2 months after starting treatment (at completion of the intervention).
Results: At 2 months, both groups improved their performance on the cranio-cervical flexion test (p < 0. 05), but this did not differ between groups (p > 0. 05). Both groups showed a reduction in their pain at rest and disability at 2 months, but this was also not different between groups (p > 0. 05). Pressure pain sensitivity did not change for either group.
Conclusion: Both specific cranio-cervical flexion training and proprioception training had a comparable effect on performance on the cranio-cervical flexion test, a test of the neuromuscular control of the deep cervical flexors. These results indicate that proprioception training may have positive effects on the function of the deep cervical flexors.