Effectiveness of strengthening deep cervical flexors using pressure biofeedback on vertical mandibular opening & craniovertebral angle in young adults with forward head posture - An experimental study

Background and objectives. Forward head posture is associated with weakness in deep cervical short flexor & shortening of the opposing cervical extensor & Pectoralis muscles. Deep cervical flexor (DCF) has a major postural function in supporting and straightening the cervical lordosis. There were few studies on the correlation between craniovertebral angle & vertical mandibular opening. So there was a need to evaluate the effect of deep cervical muscle strengthening on forward head posture and vertical mandibular opening and find out the correlation between vertical mandibular opening (VMO) and craniovertebral angle(CVA). Materials and methods. A total of 84 subjects were included in an experimental study. Subjects were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Selected CVA were assessed using MB ruler software (ICC= 0.88). Selected VMO was measured using a ruler (ICC= 0.95-0.96). Subjects received DCF strengthening using pressure biofeedback, 2 sets of 10 repetitions, 5 days per week for 4 weeks. “Paired t test” was used within the group to test the change in quantitative data, pre-intervention and post-intervention. For the correlation between VMO & CVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient test was used. Results. Strengthening of DCF using pressure biofeedback was effective in improving CVA & VMO (p value <0.0001) and moderate the positive correlation (r=0.4509) exist between CVA & VMO (p value <0.0001). Conclusions. The study concluded that strengthening of deep cervical flexors using pressure biofeedback is effective on improving vertical mandibular opening & craniovertebral angle in young adults (18-30 years) with forward head posture.