Various physiotherapy and rehabilitation methods are applied in the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain. Clinical practice guidelines for individuals with chronic neck pain recommend both manual therapy and exercise therapy among conservative treatments. Manual therapy are methods that can be safely applied to soft tissues and joints. Both manual therapy and exercise applications have been shown to have positive effects on neck pain and function. Some studies in the literature have also shown that manual therapy methods have positive effects on balance. However, no study examining the effects of different manual therapy (classical massage, connective tissue massage, manual joint techniques) approaches applied to individuals with chronic neck pain on pain, cervical range of motion, balance, functional status and quality of life was found in the literature.
The aim of the study was to compare the effects of different manual therapy approaches on pain, cervical range of motion, balance, functional status and life quality in patients with chronic neck pain.