Investigation of cervical spine curvature in females with postural neck pain

Abstract

Background and Objective: Changes in the cervical spine curvature leads to increased shear force and compression stress on cervical spine and axial loading in different cervical segments. The objective of this study was to compare the general and segmental curvature in the upper and lower cervical spine of women with postural neck pain and Forward Head Posture (FHP), women without neck pain but with FHP and healthy women. Material and Methods: 45 women were divided into three groups: 15 women with postural neck pain and FHP, 15 women without neck pain but with FHP and 15 healthy women. Photography was used to assess neck posture while cervical spine curvature was measured using fluoroscopy imaging and the Harrison Tangent method. Results: There was no significant difference in general and segmental lordosis in the three groups (P>0.05). Despite the lack of significant difference, the results showed that the segmental lordosis in C5-C6 and C6-C7 segments was decreased in patients with cervical pain and FHP and women without cervical pain but with FHP while segmental lordosis in C3-C4 had increased in patients with cervical pain and FHP. Conclusion: The general and segmental cervical lordosis may be altered in women with postural neck pain and women with FHP. More studies are needed to investigate the effect of neck pain and head posture on cervical spine segmental lordosis. أ¯?آ½ 2017, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. All rights reserved.