BACKGROUND:Pregnancy-related low back pain is a common condition during pregnancy. Kinesio tape is a drug-free elastic therapeutic tape used for treating various musculoskeletal problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term effect...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether isometric neck extension exercise restores physiological cervical lordosis and reduces pain. Sixty-five patients with loss of cervical lordosis were randomly assigned to exercise (27 women, 7 men; mean age, 32.82 ± 8.83 yrs) and control (26 women, 5 men; mean age, 33.48 ± 9.67 yrs) groups. Both groups received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for 10 days. The exercise group received additional therapy as a home exercise program, which consisted of isometric neck extension for 3 mos. Neck pain severity and cervical lordosis were measured at baseline and at 3 mos after baseline. Compared with baseline levels, cervical lordosis angle was significantly improved in the exercise group (P < 0.001) but not in the control group (P = 0.371) at the end of 3 mos. Moreover, the exercise group was significantly superior to the control group considering the number of patients in whom cervical lordosis angle returned to physiological conditions (85.2% vs. 22.5%; P < 0.001). At the end of 3 mos, pain intensity was significantly reduced in both groups compared with baseline levels (for all, P < 0.001). Nevertheless, considering the change from baseline to month 3, the reduction in pain was about twice in the exercise group compared with the control group (P < 0.001). Isometric neck extension exercise improves cervical lordosis and pain.

BACKGROUND:Because loss of cervical lordosis leads to disrupted biomechanics, the natural lordotic curvature is considered to be an ideal posture for the cervical spine. The vertebral arteries proceed in the transverse foramen of each cervical verteb...

Seasonal disease activity and serum vitamin D levels in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis