The Comparison of two type of corrective exercise with and without active self correction on upper cross syndrome

Introduction: The Upper Crossed Syndrome (UCS) was presented by Janda to introduce neuro-motor aspects of upper body muscle imbalances. The UCS describes muscle imbalances of key antagonists causing forward postures of the head and shoulders and associated changes in the spinal curves –particularly an increased thoracic kyphosis –as well as changed function in the shoulder girdle. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the effectiveness of two types of corrective exercises with and without active self-correction (ASC) in upper cross syndrome. Method: In this semi-experimental study, a total of 45 girl students with forward head (FH) 46°, round shoulder (RSH) 52° and thoracic kyphosis (THK) 42° with the average age of 11±0/74 years ,weight 33/36±7/7 kg and height 142/18±9/5 cm were selected. They were randomly divided into three groups (N= 15 with ASC, N=15 without ASC and N=15 control). Each group performed corrective exercises for 8 weeks, 3 times/week, 35-40 min/session. In this study we used photogrammetric method technique in sagittal plane to measure the angle of the FH and RSH and flexible ruler for THK. Data were analyzed by SPSS. 15 using the T- Test and Manova (p≤0.05). Result: According to the results, a significant decrease was found in the angle of FH, RSH and THK in both exercise groups (with ASC and without ASC) after 8 weeks (p= 0.001). However, control group showed no significant changes. Conclusion: The results demonstrated a significant decrease in the angle of FH, RSH and THK using of exercise program with ASC than exercise program without ASC. These changes is probably because of autonomic and behavioral changes that occur during ASC. as the purpose of ASC exercises is to train an automatic response to the achievement of a more correct position to stimulate the maintenance of a three-dimensionally corrected posture during the activities of daily life. So it is recommended to use active self-correction to have better result in subjects with this deformity.