Comparative effectiveness of PNF technique and Mulligan Concept of mobilization on Pain, Range of Motion, and Functional Mobility in Text Neck Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Text neck syndrome (TNS), a chronic progressive condition caused by excessive use of handheld devices, is a growing health concern affecting millions worldwide.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare and analyze the effective treatment protocol between Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) technique and mulligan mobilization technique on TNS.

Methods: The study with the ethical approval number GCUF/ERC/23/2419 was a quasi-experimental design and used purposive sampling. Data was collected from patients with ages between 18 and 40 years, history of neck pain in the previous 3 months, visual analogue scale (VAS) ? 5/10, and those who used mobile phones more than 5 hours per day were included in this study. Group A (n=15) received PNF technique; diagonal pattern and contract-relax, and group B (n=15) was treated with Mulligan’s Mobilizations with Movement (MWM). Visual analogue scale, neck disability and cervical ROMs were analyzed by IBM SPSS version 24. Shapiro-Wilk Test was used to check normality of data and, paired T-test and independent T-test used to analyze within group and between groups comparison.

Results: The study compared pain levels and neck disability and cervical range of motion in two groups. Between groups analysis group A showed only significant difference in variable neck flexion (p?0.001) while both groups indicated significant improvements in visual analogue scale, neck disability index and ROMs; flexion, extension, and rotational movements independently i.e. p-value<0.05.

Conclusion: In this study, both PNF and Mulligan mobilization techniques significantly improved pain, range of motion, and functional mobility in individuals with TNS.