Efficacy of physical therapy on cervical muscle activity and on body posture in school-age mouth breathing children

Introduction: The mouth breathing resulting from nasal obstruction has been highly incident, mostly as a consequence of allergic rhinitis. In children, such condition is more concerned because it causes alteration during their development, which may generate deformities. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a program of combined postural exercise and breathing, on the cervical muscles and body posture in school-age mouth breathing children. Materials and methods: Nineteen mouth breathing children, mean age of 10.6 years, both genders, were recruited either from a public school or from a speech-therapy service. The evaluation procedures were electromyographic recordings from the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), sub-occipitals (SOC) and upper trapezius (LIT) muscles and computerized photographic analysis pre and post-treatment. The subjects were submitted to a 12-week of a Physical Therapy Program (PTP) consisted by (a) muscular stretching and strengthening exercises using a Swiss ball combined to (b) nasodiaphragmatic re-education. Results: There was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the electrical activity on the assessed muscles during quiet position (5, 19 and 7.1% to 31 2 and 10.3% for SCM, SOC and UT, respectively) and aligned posture (7, 19 and 8% to 4, 9 and 2.6% for SCM, SOC and LIT, respectively) after treatment. Improvement in the postural deviation, especially reduction in forward head posture and abducted scapula were demonstrated in the computerized photographic analysis. Conclusion: A combination of postural and breathing exercises was effective in restoring muscle imbalances and posture in a group of school-age mouth breathing children, as measured by changes in electrical activity and positional data. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.