Cervical spine manipulation (CSM) is utilized by many health care practitioners in the management of patients with neck pain and headache. How CSM works is not understood however, most researchers agree that there is likely a combination of mechanical, neurophysiological and placebo effects. This study will test for possible neurophysiological effects by examining for changes in a person's ability to reposition their head and neck in space, and maintain their balance following CSM.
Consenting participants will have their proprioception tested through a joint repositioning error test for their cervical spine, and also have their balance tested through a Neurocom Balancemaster. Following these pre-intervention measures, they will receive in a random order, either a cervical spine manipulation (CSM) or a sham manipulation, and then have tests repeated to analyze for changes and differences between interventions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
45
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Nevada Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Cervical joint proprioception
Subjects wear a headband with a mounted laser pointer and sit 1 meter away from a wall. They assume their comfortable neutral cervical posture and then close their eyes and extend their cervical spine and return to their neutral posture with eyes closed. The laser pointer marks the point of return and we measure the difference between start and end points for error.
Time frame: 1 day (Immediately after the intervention)
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