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Background and Objective: Muscle size is considered to be a good indicator of muscle function. Previous studies demonstrated a major role for longus colli muscle in cervical spine stabilization. This study was designed to compare muscle size and shape of cervical longus colli muscle between patients with bilateral chronic neck pain and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: In this case – control study, bilateral ultrasound images of longus colli muscle, 2 centimeters below the thyroid cartilage were taken in 20 subjects (10 males and 10 females) with bilateral chronic neck pain and in 20 healthy subjects during 2008. Cross sectional area (cm2) and muscle shape ratio (ratio between lateral and anterior posterior dimensions) were measured. T- test was used for comparison of cross sectional area and shape ratio of right and left sides between the two groups. Results: In healthy subjects the cross sectional area of longus colli muscle in right and left sides were 0.85±0.11 and 0.86±0.12 respectively which was greater than that of neck pain patients: 0.76±0.11 and 0.68±0.07 respectively (P<0.05). In addition, longus colli muscle shape ratio of healthy subjects in right and left sides was 1.18±0.17 and 1.16±0.19 respectively which was smaller than that of neck pain patients: 1.50±0.25 and 1.50±0.27 respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showd that patients with bilateral chronic neck pain had generally smaller cross sectional area and larger shape ratio of longus colli compared to controls.

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Background and Objective: The shoulder joint is continuously under various pressures. Shoulder impingement syndrome is the most common problem. Stability of the shoulder is due to the interaction between static and dynamic stability which is caused through mediation of sensorimotor system (proprioception). This study was investigated to determine the effect of 6 weeks resistance training with elastic-band on proprioception in male athletes with shoulder impingement syndrome. Method: In this quasi-experimental study, 30 adult males with shoulder syndrome divided into control and interventional groups. Subjects in interventional group were received resistance exercises with elastic-band for six weeks. The shoulder joint proprioception, perior and at the end of study in 0, 45 and 90 angle were measured using isokinetic, Biodex System 3. Results: Significant improvement in the shoulder joint proprioception in 0, 45 and 90 angle were observed in interventional group in comparision with controls (P<0.05). Conclusion: Six weeks of resistance training with elastic-band improved shoulder joint proprioception of males with impingement syndrome.

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Background and Objective: Lower back pain is one of the common discomforts of the occupational-musculoskeletal system, and the scope of motion measurement is important for assessing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. This study was carried out to evaluate the reproducibility of the modified-modified Shober's technique (MMST) in measuring the range of motion of lumbar in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, the range of motion of lumbar (flexion and extension) of 15 patients with non-specific chronic low back pain was measured in three times with modified – modified Shober's technique by two physiotherapists. To achieve this, the correlation coefficient (ICC) was used. Two measurements with an interval of one hour and one week were run to evaluate the reproducibility within-days and between-day, respectively.
Results: Flexion and extension were measured by the first assessor in within-day that showed a high reproducibility for flexion (ICC=0.88) and extension (ICC=0.71), findings also revealed an acceptable ICC for flexion (ICC=0.85) and extension (ICC=0.68) in between-days. The second assessor measurements of flexion and extension in whiten-day also presented high reproducibility for flexion (ICC=0.85) and extension (ICC=0.76); moreover, in between-days evaluation, correlation was found for flexion (ICC=0.81) and for extension (ICC=0.71).
Conclusion: This study showed that the modified-modified Shober's technique is applicable for measuring the reproducibility of range of lumbar motion in patients with non-specific chronic lumbar pain.