The Effect of Eight Weeks of Corrective Exercises on Neck Pain, Forward Head, and Rounded Shoulder Posture of Guitarists

The sitting position of guitarists while playing can cause more contraction of the neck muscles and lead to pain in the neck area. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of eight weeks of corrective exercises on neck pain, forward head, and rounded shoulder posture in guitar players. The current research is a semi-experimental type with a pre-test and post-test design, and 33 male guitar players from Ferydan City, Isfahan province were selected in a purposeful and available manner. Then they were randomly divided into two experimental groups (17 people) and control (16 people). In the pre-test and post-test stages, neck pain was measured using the neck pain and disability measurement scale questionnaire, and the forward head and round shoulder angle were measured by photographing from the side view. The experimental group performed corrective exercises for eight weeks. Shapiro-Wilk test and Levin's F test were used to check the normality of data distribution, and the repeated measure test at a significance level of 0.05 was used to check the changes between groups. The comparison of the data between the two groups showed a significant difference before and after the training period regarding the neck pain scale and the amount of forward head angle and round shoulder angle in the corrective exercise group (P=0.001). Exercises probably create a balance between muscle groups, it had a favorable effect on reducing neck pain and improving head and shoulder forward abnormalities. Therefore, it is suggested that these exercises be included in the daily activity program of guitarists to manage injuries caused by playing and increase the professional life of a musician.