Comparison of cervical muscle thickness between asymptomatic women with and without forward head posture.
Fateme Bokaee, Asghar Rezasoltani, Farideh D Manshadi and 3 others
PMID 28465132WHAT IT FOUND
Among asymptomatic women, most cervical muscles were similar between those with and without forward head posture.
Only the sternocleidomastoid was thicker in the forward-posture group, so posture alone did not show broad muscle differences.
Key findings
01Only the sternocleidomastoid was significantly thicker in women with forward head posture, at 8.7 mm versus 8.05 mm in the control group.
02The other measured cervical muscles did not show significant thickness differences between the groups.
03The longus colli was thicker in the control group, at 7.6 mm versus 7.4 mm in the forward-head-posture group, but this was not significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study looked only at asymptomatic women aged 20 to 40, so it does not show what happens in men, older adults, or people with neck pain. Participants had moderate forward head posture, so severe or chronic posture problems were not examined. Only the right side of the neck was measured, and all participants were right-handed. The craniovertebral angle cut-off for forward head posture was not established; the authors used less than 48 degrees because many previous studies used 48 to 50 degrees. The study compared two groups at one time, so it cannot show that forward head posture caused muscle thickness changes. The paper did not report blinding of the examiner or participants to group status.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the thicker sternocleidomastoid as proof that forward head posture causes muscle changes or that ultrasound thickness should guide treatment. Only the sternocleidomastoid differed among the measured muscles, and the women were asymptomatic.