Comparing the Effect of Two Exercise Protocols, Dynamic Neuromuscular Stability and Stabilization, on Pain, Disability, and Tolerance of Deep Neck Flexor Muscles in Employees with Non-Specific Chronic Neck Pain

Chronic non-specific neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders in modern society and is considered a cause of disability in many jobs, especially in office workers.

In this study, 36 female office worker with mean±SD age of 39.20±4.29 years, mean ± SD weight of 70.60±12.37 kg and mean±SD height of 163.15±6.23 cm were randomly divided into three groups: 1. Dynamic neuromuscular stability exercises 2. Stabilization Exercises and 3. Control group. Stabilization exercises with emphasis on the effect on deep neck muscles dynamic neuromuscular stability exercises with emphasis on the effect on cervical thoracic and lumbar pelvic chain coordination were performed for six weeks (3 sessions per week). Visual Analog Scale and disability questionnaire were used to measure the pain and disability of the subjects, respectively, and to measure muscle tolerance, two methods of assessing activation score and deep neck flexor muscle performance index were used by compression biofeedback device. Finally, data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 22)at the significance level of P=0.05.

The one-way ANOVA test results showed a significant difference between the three groups in all variables (P<0.05). The Turkey post hoc test results showed no significant difference between the pain score and disability of the dynamic neuromuscular stability exercises and stabilization exercise groups (P>0.05). On the other hand, the results showed that after six weeks of training, there was no significant difference between muscle activation score and muscle performance index in the control and stabilization exercise groups (P>0.05).

Both training protocols had a significant effect on reducing pain and disability. However, dynamic neuromuscular stability and stabilization exercises substantially increased the tolerance of deep neck flexor muscles compared with the stabilization exercises group. It can also be a better approach to treat non-specific chronic neck pain.