Craniocervical posture analysis of mouth breathing children after postural treatment on swiss ball

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the craniocervical posture of mouth breathing children after postural treatment on swiss ball. Twelve mouth breathing children were undergone to a postural reeducation protocol through stretching and strengthening exercises on swiss ball, diaphragmatic stimulation and stretching of the inspiratory accessory muscles. Craniocervical posture was evaluated through biophotogrammetry analysis. Forward head position was measured through an angle formed by the points in the tragus and in the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra with a horizontal line. Cervical column curvature was taken by the horizontal distance from a vertical line passing through the thoracic kyphosis apex to the point of the greatest cervical curvature concavity. Pictures were taken before and after ten treatment sessions. The normality of the variables was tested by Shapiro-Wilk test and the Student's t -test was used to determine differences in variables between assessments. It was considered a significance level of 5% (p<0.05). It was verified a significant improvement on craniocervical posture with reduction of the forward head position (p=0.00) and restoration of cervical column physiological curvature (p=0.01). The postural reeducation protocol on swiss ball reflected on craniocervical posture alignment probably by cervical muscles equilibrium and diaphragmatic action improvement.