Abstract
[Purpose] Manipulative techniques are becoming popular, although, their underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between the application of cervical sustained natural apophyseal glides (SNAGS) to C5/6 with cervical flexion and range of motion in cervical flexion (CF). [Subjects] Twenty asymptomatic subjects participated. [Method] within subject, repeated measures study design which included control, active movement of the cervical spine, and cervical SNAGS in flexion was used. Range of motion (ROM) in CF was measured four times (0, 5, 10, and 40 min) for the three interventions and the changes of the ROM were compared. Active neck flexion and SNAGS were performed just before the second measurement. The manipulative forces (N) at C5 were recorded. [Results and Conclusion] There was a significant increase in CF at the second measurement in the SNAGS intervention. Further research is needed.
