The Investigation of the Acute Effect of Craniocervical Flexion Exercise and Local Vibration on Semispinalis Cervicis and Multifidus Muscle Activation in a Healthy Individual

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the acute effects of craniocervical flexion exercise (CCFE) and vibration on the activation of the semispinalis cervicis and multifidus muscles in a healthy case. Materials and Methods: Our study was carried out on a healthy male without neck pain at the age of 21 at Hacettepe University Faculty of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department and Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Radiology Department. First, the individual was taught craniocervical flexion exercise (CCFE). Later on, cervical MR images of the 3-T magnet MRG device were taken at the National Magnetic Resonance Research Center of Bilkent University. The sections obtained from the deep paravertebral region muscles by "T2 map color mapping method" and the muscle areas of activation were drawn by observation. T2 relaxation values associated with muscle activation were calculated. Later on, case was asked to perform CCF exercise with 10 seconds of contraction and 5 seconds of rest and 20 repetitions. MRI measurements were repeated after exercise. After a resting period of forty-five minutes, the images of the paravertebral muscles were recorded with MRI again before the vibration and the neck of the case was vibrated for 5 minutes. After the vibration, the MRI measurements were repeated and compared with the results of the first measurement. Results: It has been found that the results obtained immediately after the KSF exercise and after the application of vibration have some limited variations in the activation of the deep paravertebral neck muscles when compared to the results before CCF and vibration. Conclusion: At the end of this study it was thought that the CCF exercise and the application of vibration may have a limited and positive effect on the deep paravertebral muscles and studies with different exercise protocol and vibration intensity on more cases are needed in order to clarify this effect more clearly.

Keywords

• craniocervical flexion,vibration,fMRG,paravertebral muscles

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