Dropped Head Syndrome Treated with Physical Therapy Based on the Concept of Athletic Rehabilitation

Abstract EN

Patients with dropped head syndrome (DHS) show severe cervical kyphosis, i.e., chin-on-chest deformity, and their activities of daily living are impaired considerably.

However, the therapeutics for DHS, especially conservative treatment, have not been fully established.

A 75-year-old woman suffered from DHS, which she developed from neck pain due to cervical spondylosis.

Examinations showed atrophy and dysfunction of her cervical extensor muscles.

For this patient, we created a special program of physical therapy based on the concept of athletic rehabilitation and provided her the athletic rehabilitation-based physical therapy (AR-PT).

After starting AR-PT, the patient’s neck pain was relieved.

She recovered from DHS, and the atrophy of her cervical extensor muscles improved.

This study suggests that our program of AR-PT improves cervical extensor muscle insufficiency in patients with DHS and corrects their cervical kyphosis.