Effect of Resistance Band Exercises on Neck Pain, Disability and Forward Head Posture in Dentists with Chronic Neck Pain

Background: Dentists experience daily neck pain largely due to their awkward postures and high work demand. This puts extra strain on the muscles and predispose to development of faulty posture and muscle imbalance. So to avoid all these problems an exercise plan is needed, which can be easily performed even at the workplace. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of resistance band exercises on neck pain, disability, and forward head posture in dentists with chronic neck pain. Methodology: Fifty dentists between the ages of 25-50 participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to either an experimental (25) or a control group (25). The experimental group participated in resistance band exercises program while control performed conventional exercises for 10 weeks. Evaluation of neck pain and disability was done by Numeric pain rating scale( NPRS) a n d Neck Disability Index (NDI) respectively. Forward head posture was measured by digital photography technique. Results: The paired t-test was used to compare within group differences and unpaired t-test was used to compare the between group differences. Significant differences found between experimental and control group in all three variables (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the use of resistance band exercises may be helpful for reducing neck pain, disability, and correcting forward head posture in dentists.