Comparision of Effectiveness of Isometric and Stretching Exercise in Pain Management among the Forward Head Posture Patients

Background: Forward head posture (FHP) is an exaggerated anterior lower cervical curve and posteriorupper thoracic curve, leading to excessive anterior positioning of the head concerning a vertical referenceline, accompanying rounded shoulders with thoracic kyphosis, this Occurs due to imbalance betweenposterior and anterior neck muscles, causing neck pain. Exercise treatments are effective in reducing FHPalongside associated neck pain.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to October 2019 on 60 patients diagnosedwith FHP from different hospitals of Quetta and were equally distributed into two groups, each containing30 participants. Group A was given stretching exercises and group B was given isometric exercises for 2weeks. The visual analog scale was used to assess patients before and after treatment. Data were analyzedby Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.Result: Patients were having a mean age of +30.42, Most of them were males (n=34, 57.0%) and from agegroup of 41-60 years (n=33, 55.0%). Moderate severity was reported by (n=41, 58.3%) and both cervicaland thoracic regions were involved in (n=36, 60.0%). Before treatment most of patients were having painintensity of 6 (n=21, 35.0%) and after treatment were having pain intensity 4 (n=24, 40.0%). There wasno significant difference in pain reduction between both interventional groups.Conclusion: The study concludes that both techniques, the isometric strength training, and stretchingexercises are equally effective in correcting forward head posture and associated neck pain reduction.