Where this summary comes from
Carrasco-Uribarren A, Ceballos-Laita L, Pérez-Guillén S, Jiménez-Del-Barrio S, Pantaleón-Hernández D, Cabanillas-Barea S. Impact of therapeutic exercise on craniovertebral angle in forward head posture: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy, 2026. PMID 42281352.
The paper itself — doi.org/10.1080/10669817.2026.2686739
Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis · 13 randomised controlled trials · 819 participants
What the paper asked
Does therapeutic exercise change the craniovertebral angle in forward head posture, and does neck disability improve with it?
What was found
- Both neck-only and combined neck-and-thoracic programmes produced statistically significant short-term improvement in craniovertebral angle and in neck disability.
- The combined programmes also reduced pain intensity.
What does not follow from it
- The authors themselves rated the certainty of the evidence as low to very low and asked for cautious interpretation.
- The effects reported are short-term. What remains after the programme ends does not follow from this review.
What it means for someone here
Forward head is one of the most common things seen in this clinic's photographs. The paper says exercise works — and two things usually left out of the quote: the evidence is not high quality, and the effect was measured in the short term. A programme that looks only at the neck does less than one that also looks at the upper back, especially where there is pain.
Related findings
This page summarises one study. It is not treatment advice, and no programme is written for a person from a single paper.