The Effects of Muscle Energy Technique on Cervical Range of Motion

The purpose of this study was to determine if a four week treatment period of muscle energy technique (MET) would significantly increase cervical flexion, extension, sidebending, and rotation in asymptomatic persons with limited range of motion (ROM). Eighteen volunteers qualified as subjects for the study following screening for neck ROM limitation. These subjects were then randomly assigned to either a control or MET group. A series of six, mixed, two-way analyses variance (ANOVA) were used to test for significant cervical ROM increases. The two factors examined were Group (MET vs. control) and Test (pre vs. post). Significant interactive effects for both left and right rotation were found (both F's > 4.8 and p's < 0.05) indicating a significantly greater ROM in the MET group. Trends toward significance were found for the remaining ranges of motion with the mean measures for each of the treatment groups showing an increase between pre-test and post-test. These results support MET as an effective technique for increasing cervical range of motion.