Cervical Traction, Passive Accessory Intervertebral Movements and Active Strength Training in Cervical Radiculopathy

A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured. It is often used in epidemiologic and clinical research to measure the intensity or frequency of various symptoms. The simplest VAS is a straight horizontal line of fixed length, usually 100 mm. The ends are defined as the extreme limits of the parameter to be measured (symptom, pain, health) orientated from the left (worst) to the right (best).

This questionnaire has been designed to give us information as to how your neck pain has affected your ability to manage in everyday life. Patient-completed, condition- specific, functional status questionnaire with 10 items including pain, personal care, lifting, reading, headaches, concentration, work, driving, sleeping and recreation. Each section is scored on a 0 to 5 rating scale, in which zero means "no pain" and 5 means "Worst imaginable pain".

The Spurling's test (also known as Maximal Cervical Compression Test and Foraminal Compression Test) is used during a musculoskeletal assessment of the cervical spine when looking for cervical nerve root compression causing Cervical Radiculopathy. There are different ways described in the literature to perform the Spurling's test. The version that provoked upper limb symptoms the best was with the neck in extension, lateral flexion and axial compression.

A goniometer is an instrument which measures the available range of motion at a joint. Goniometer have different types; the most use is the universal standard goniometer, which is either made with plastic or metal tool. It consists of a stationary arm, a movable arm and a fulcrum.

The Craniocervical flexion test (CCFT) is a clinical test of neuromotor control including the activation and endurance of the deep flexors of the cervical spine. This test involves the subject performing a "yes" like nod which is the anatomical action of the Deep Cervical flexors, against a pressure biofeedback. The CCFT tests the neuromuscular control of the control of the deep cervical flexor muscles, the longus capitis, and colli. The test also assesses endurance of the deep cervical flexors and interaction of the deep cervical flexor muscles with the superficial flexors, i.e. the Sternocleidomastoid and the anterior scalene muscles. It can also be used as a clinical indicator of impaired activation of the deep cervical flexor muscles, to measure the muscle activity of the deep and superficial cervical muscles.