The effect of muscle energy technique of the suboccipital muscles on the cervical spine range of motion and whether this affects patients who suffer from cervicogenic headaches.
Item
- Title
- The effect of muscle energy technique of the suboccipital muscles on the cervical spine range of motion and whether this affects patients who suffer from cervicogenic headaches.
- Author(s)
- Munir, S
- Abstract
- Introduction:_Cervicogenic headaches (CH) are headaches due to musculoskeletal dysfunctions within the cervical spine. They usually present as pain beginning in the neck and spreading to the frontal and temporal areas of the cranium. Manual therapy techniques are a potential viable alternative to medication. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of muscle energy technique (MET) of the suboccipital muscles on the range of motion of the cervical spine and whether this affects patients who suffer from cervicogenic headaches. This study is important as cervicogenic headaches are common worldwide yet there has not been much research into MET as a preventative form of treatment for suboccipital tension or cervicogenic headaches. Methods:_Participants were recruited from the European School of Osteopathy (ESO) and randomly split into two groups, a control group and an MET group. Each patient s cervical range of motion and severity of headaches was recorded before they received their intervention. Excluding factors were recent head or neck trauma or surgery. The control group lay supine on a couch for one minute; the MET received suboccipital MET five times, each contraction lasting five seconds. Each participant's cervical range of motion was measured again. This process was repeated once a week for four weeks. The results were analysed using Microsoft Excel (Version 14) and Analyse-IT (Standard Edition 3.15). Mean and standard deviation were calculated for group differences. F-Test and Shapiro-Wilks normality test were run on the ratio data: as the data was parametric, a T-Test was used to compare the means between groups and within groups. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyse non-parametric data. Results:_Twenty ESQ students (ten male and ten female) aged betweenl8 and 55 with history of cervicogenic headaches were recruited The ROM of the MET group increased significantly compared to the control group post intervention (p<0.05). Results also showed that the severity of headaches was reduced in the MET group (4 point (+/-'2.9) difference on NRS) compared to the control group but this was not significant. Conclusion:_These findings suggest that suboccipital MET is a potential treatment when trying to increase cervical range of motion in the hope of helping those who suffer with cervicogenic headaches. A larger sample size, with a longer follow-up period, may improve the power and reliability of the study.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2013
- Date Submitted
- 20.1.2015 16:42:58
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15463
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Cervical range of motion ; cervicogenic headache ; MET
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Munir, S, “The effect of muscle energy technique of the suboccipital muscles on the cervical spine range of motion and whether this affects patients who suffer from cervicogenic headaches.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 17, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/701