The effect of indirect positioning combined with a direct neuromuscular release on cervical multifidus at the level of C3/4 on active cervical rotation.
Item
- Title
- The effect of indirect positioning combined with a direct neuromuscular release on cervical multifidus at the level of C3/4 on active cervical rotation.
- Author(s)
- Green, J
- Abstract
- The objective of this pilot study was to investigate the effectiveness of using indirect joint positioning of C3/4 combined with a direct neuromuscular release on the associated joint's cervical multifidus muscle and its effect on active cervical rotation (ACR). It has been shown in past studies that the cervical multifidus muscle particularly at the level of C3 appears to have increased fat infiltrate thus the muscle undergoes atrophy in subjects with previous whiplash injuries in the cervical spine. The multifidus muscle is one of the many spinal muscles that produce rotation at a segment as it attaches to the facet joint. This study looked at the change in ACR after the multifidus muscle was released through a direct neuromuscular technique (NMT) with the accompaniment of indirect positional release at the level of C3/4. Another aspect of the project was to analyse the effectiveness of combining these two techniques. Although there appears to be limited documented research into the efficacy of combining these two theories, there does seem to be anecdotal evidence from osteopaths in private practice that supports the notion that there is an inherent handling in the direction of ease before completing a direct technique.This experiment included 50 subjects who were studied in this randomized controlled single-blind trial. These 50 subjects were student volunteers from the European School of Osteopathy (ESO). There were 30 subjects in the treatment group and 20 in the control group. The treatment group received the NMT on cervical multifidus at the level of C3/4 with indirect positioning the joint. The control group received indirect positioning at C3/4 with the same handhold as the treatment group for the same length of time (90 seconds). Prior to and immediately after the experiment the ACR was calculated and recorded using the cervical range of movement (CROM) apparatus. Due to a small sample population (power=0.55) this investigation was analysed as a pilot study. The data was analysed using the F-test, Kolmogorov-Smimov test, Mann -Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The treatment group showed a statistically significant (p=0.05) increase in ACR immediately after the technique was conducted. There was an average of 8.11% increase in the ACR in the treatment group. The placebo group showed there was no statistically significant change in ACR with an average change of <0.01% in the asymmetry of cervical rotation. This study concluded that the combination of indirect positioning and direct NMT are beneficial for increasing ACR by reducing cervical rotation asymmetry especially in the subjects over the age of 30.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2011
- Date Submitted
- 22.1.2013 16:23:35
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15271
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Cervical rotation; Multifidus muscle; Neuromuscular release.
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Green, J, “The effect of indirect positioning combined with a direct neuromuscular release on cervical multifidus at the level of C3/4 on active cervical rotation.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 2, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/794