BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Neck range of motion may be decreased by vertebral and myofascial dysfunctions, which may be treated with osteopathic manipulation through the cervical rhythmic articulatory technique. This study aimed at verifying whether osteopathic manipulation with rhythmic articulatory technique improves cervical rotation range measured by fleximetry. METHODS: The group was made up of 58 individuals of both genders, mean age of 36±6.5 years, with chronic mechanical neck pain, who were randomized to cervical rotation control fleximetry, to osteopathic manipulation through the rhythmic articulatory technique, to 5-minute rest and to cervical rotation study fleximetry. RESULTS: The comparison of cervical rotation fleximetry means through Student's t test for paired data at significance level of 0.05 (5%) has shown significant cervical rotation improvement in all cases (p<0.05), going from 151.4º to 162.5º in total movement arch (7.3% improvement). CONCLUSION: Results were as expected, confirming that osteopathic manipulation using the rhythmic articulatory technique generates significant improvement of cervical rotation range in all cases and may be an alternative to treat diseases related to vertebral mobility reduction, such as neck pain and cervical osteoarthritis.
Joint range of motion; Neck pain; Osteopathic manipulation; Specialty physiotherapy; Spinal manipulation
