Evidence-Based Non-Surgical Strategies for Managing Cervical Radiculopathy
12 weeks to Better Posture is the best posture program, if everyone did it I would be out of a job states Giovanni, a physician who sought postural correction treatment for neck pain, tension headaches and cervical radiculopathy. The pain and tingling in Giovannis arm was upsetting his ability carry out surgery at work. Desperate to correct the problem Giovanni went to the American Posture Institute. Forward Head Posture and Cervical Radiculopathy: Postural distortion patterns of the Posture System lead to varying physiologic health final outcomes. When patients present with forward head posture, a misalignment of the positioning of posture quadrant 1 in relation to posture quadrant 2 is revealed. These patients commonly present with cervical spinal lesions of posture quadrant 1, which frequently result in symptoms of radiculopathy in the upper extremity of posture quadrant multiple. Research signifies that there is a direct correlation between decrease in the craniovertebral angle and increase of neck pain and problems. Patients who present with a smaller craniovertebral angle have the degree of forward head posture, causing more pressure to the cervical nerve roots, creating a greater degree of neck pain disability (Ho Ting Yip et al., 2005). Forward head posture improves the amount of pressure more than a anatomy from the cervical spinal cord. According to Caillet and Gross (1987) forward head posture will add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage to your spine. To compensate for this additional pressure, the paravertebral musculature in the base among the neck becomes hypertonically contracted. Patients often associate the muscle tightness at the bottom of the neck with a stress related onset. Non-surgical Cure for Cervical Radiculopathy: Forward head posture is a contributing factor of painful cervical radiculopathy. To manage symptoms related to cervical radiculopathy, non-surgical treatment plans to take care of forward head posture are considered clinically reliable. Non-surgical treatment plans include spinal manipulation and active and passive postural recovery. According to https://smartbackbrace.com/blogs/improve-your-posture-blog/role-of-posture-correctors-in-improving-posture et al. (2005), patients who underwent a non-surgical treatment protocol for relief of cervical radiculopathy had a 92.6% clinically significant improvement from baseline to long-term follow-up. Moustaffa et al. (2011) stated that exercise programs to correct forward head posture will provide immunity in reducing pain having cervical spine radiculopathy. Exercises that were found to function most effective for pain management of cervical radiculopathy include neck retraction training. Neck retraction exercises contribute to correction of forward head posture and promote cervical root decompression (Lentell et alabama., 2002). The reverse is also reputable. If forward head posture is not corrected, exacerbation of radicular symptoms is predicted. In addition to neck retraction exercises, cervical distraction also contributes to correction of forward head posture and a reduction of symptoms along with cervical radiculopathy. A multifaceted non-surgical approach is suitable for complete postural correction of posture quadrant 1 to reduce pain of the upper extremity caused by cervical radiculopathy. When coping with patients like Giovanni, it is important to monitor progress throughout their treatment to be able to determine objective postural correction outcomes. All postural correction programs are specific to the patients individual needs.