OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cryotherapy with mobilization (CM) versus cryotherapy with mobilization reinforced with home stretching exercises (CMS) on pain and disability. METHOD: A randomized clinical trial with 2-arm parallel design, concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention to-treat analysis. Sixty participants were in 2 groups. Group 1 included cryotherapy with mobilization twice per week for 5 weeks. Group 2 included cryotherapy with mobilization plus home stretching exercises 5 times per week for 5 weeks. The evaluations were at baseline and 2 days posttreatment for the numeric pain rating scale, neck disability index, patient-specific functional scale, and global rating of change. RESULTS: The CM and CMS decreased neck pain and disability (p = 0.000). The statistical significance between the groups' differences favored the CM in the numeric pain rating scale, patient-specific functional scale, global rating of change (p = 0.000), and neck disability index (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Cryotherapy with mobilization for subjects in this study was more effective in decreasing disability and neck pain than CMS.
Reprinted from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics with copyright permission from the National University of Health Sciences.

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