Abstract
A 25-year-old female university student with chronic cervical and lumbar pain, headache, and dizziness after being involved in a motor vehicle accident 21 months prior was seen once a week for 6 sessions at an outpatient physical therapy clinic by a physical therapist student under the supervision of a licensed physical therapist. The patient was evaluated at the initial encounter using the numerical pain rating scale, goniometry, neck disability index, impact of events scale, tampa scale for kinesiophobia, deep neck flexor endurance test, upper cervical ligament instability tests, and cervical rotation flexion test. A plan of care was established with the goals to decrease pain, improve cervical range of motion, strength, and endurance as well as learn activity modifications to be able to pray, sleep better, improve ambulation tolerance, improve participation tolerance to classroom activities and bus rides, and go hiking again. The main intervention promoted multidisciplinary therapy approach to address pain and psychosocial factors. At the clinic, the patient received education on pain science, postural awareness, proper sleep positioning, and study setup. She also received manual therapy, joint mobilizations, task-specific training, muscle endurance training, walking program, and relaxation training through diaphragmatic breathing. The patient showed improvement in cervical motor control, strength, quality of sleep, and activity tolerance with decreased pain. The patient was discharged home to continue with a home exercise program and follow up with other disciplinary healthcare professionals.