The Effects of Exercise Therapy for Flexor and Extensor Cervical Muscles on Non-specific Neck Pain.

Objective: To compare the effects craniocervical and cervicothoracic extension training versus deep cervical flexor training, both combined with conventional treatment, on disability, perceived pain, Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), endurance, active range of motion (AROM) of the cervical spine, joint position sense (JPS) and intake of drugs in subjects with non-specific chronic neck pain, referenced by the control group. Methods: The research will be done from December 2019 to August 2020 at the Recoletas Burgos Hospital. Fifty-four volunteers with non-specific chronic neck pain, recruited at the hospital, will be randomly assigned, using sealed envelopes, to 1 of the three groups. The first two experimental groups will be named Group A and Group B and each of them will go to the Rehabilitation Service for 4 weeks to perform the exercises under the supervision of the physiotherapist. This process will occur along with the conventional treatment (infrared heat, massage and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). These groups will differ between them in the muscles they will mainly train through training. The group A will perform a neck extensor muscles training and group B a deep cervical flexor muscles training. After these 4 weeks, these exercises will be performed by them on a daily routine which will be prescribed for 6 months at home. On the control group (group C), no intervention will be performed due to the fact that they will be still on the waiting list. Disability, pain, HRQoL and drug intake will be measured in pre-treatment, at 4 weeks (post-treatment) and at 6 months follow-up; endurance, AROM and JPS will be measured in pre-treatment and at 4 weeks (post-treatment); while demographic variables (height, weight and age) will only be measured at the baseline.