Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: November | Volume: 6 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 152-161
Efficacy of Muscle Energy Technique As Compared to Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Technique in Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Chandani Kumari1, Bibhuti Sarkar2, Dhruba Banerjee3, Sarfaraz Alam4., Rachana Sharma5, Abhishek Biswas6
1Postgraduate Student, National Institute for the Orthopedically Handicapped (NIOH), Kolkata, India.
2MPT (Orthopaedics), Physiotherapist (NIOH), Kolkata, India.
3Senior Physiotherapist cum Junior Lecturer (NIOH), Kolkata, India.
4MPT (Sports), Senior Professional Trainee (NIOH), Kolkata, India.
5MPT (Cardio-Respiratory), Senior Professional Trainee (NIOH), Kolkata, India.
6Director (Offg) NIOH, Kolkata, India.
Corresponding Author: Chandani Kumari
ABSTRACT
Background and purpose: Mechanical neck pain provoked by sustained neck posture, neck movement, pain on palpation of cervical musculature without pathologies. Previous study reported that muscle energy technique for upper trapezius and levator scapulae are effective treatment for mechanical neck pain. This study was designed to evaluate the two manual technique i.e. Muscle energy technique (MET) and Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) technique in subjects with chronic mechanical neck pain.
Methods: 45 subjects of chronic mechanical neck pain were included and randomly allocated in three treatment groups. Group- A received 12 sessions of MET, Group- B received 12 sessions of PNF technique and Group- C received 12 sessions of isometric and self-stretching exercise for four weeks.
Outcome measures: Pain intensity was measured by VAS, ROM was measured by universal goniometer for lateral flexion and rotation of cervical spine and function was evaluated by NDI scale. These parameters were recorded at baseline and at the end of 4 weeks.
Results: There was statistically significant improvement (p<0.05) in all the three groups for all the outcomes. In between group comparison the entire outcome showed statistically no significant changes in between Group- A and Group-B.
Conclusion: The present study shows that MET and PNF technique are equally effective in decreasing pain, increasing ROM and improving function in subjects with chronic mechanical neck pain.
Key words: Mechanical neck pain, Muscle energy technique (MET), Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) technique, Visual analogue scale (VAS), Range of motion (ROM), Goniometer, Neck disability index (NDI).