The effects of manual therapy and inspiratory muscle training on respiratory parameters in young adults with postural problems: a randomized trial

Objective: It was aimed to compare the effects of manual therapy (MT) and Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) on respiratory functions and postural problems of young adults in this study.
Material-Method: Thirty-five volunteers were randomly allocated into IMT and MT groups. All participants received twenty minutes of IMT twice a week for four weeks. Eight sessions of manual therapy were applied to the MT group in addition to IMT. Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second (FEV1), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC ratio, Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), forward head posture (FHP), and thoracic hyperkyphosis were evaluated before and after the treatments.
Results: Although there were significant improvements in the FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio, and PEF scores of the MT group (p<0.05), no significant difference was found in the IMT group at the post-treatment (p>0.05). The comparisons of post-treatment scores of the FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio, and PEF between the groups revealed greater improvements in the MT group than IMT group (p<0.05). Significant changes were demonstrated in postural problems in the two groups (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were analyzed between the group in the comparison of the post-treatment postural changes (p>0.05).
Conclusion: We observed in our study that IMT and MT might be effective in correcting FHP and thoracic hyperkyphosis in young adults. It was recommended to add MT to IMT for the young adults with thoracic hyperkyphosis and FHP, due to greater improvements shown in the respiratory functions in our study.