Physical Treatments: Specific Physical Therapy Journal
Year:2014 | Volume:4 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:8

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Kinesio taping on severity of pain, the power for taking hand, functional activity and we undertook a literature review to produce evidence-based recommendation for the use of Kinesio tape in patients with lateral epicondylitis.Methods: A literature search was done in google scholar, pubmed, science direct, proquest, medline, advanced google and pedro database. The following keywords were used: Kinesio tape, elastic tape, Taping technique، Pain, Grip strength, Lateral epicondylitis, and tennis elbow. The inclusion criteria were English and Persian articles which were published from 2000 to 2013 and articles which were case report were excluded.Results: 26 articles including randomized clinical trial, cohort study, case-control study and trial which included healthy population, patients, male and female at any age range were extracted. 11 articles had the inclusion criteria.Conclusion: Although Taping technique seems to an impressive effect on wrist extension، grip strength، function and pain in individuals with lateral epicondylitis, strong evidence to identify the underlying mechanisms is still not available.

Purpose: The forward shoulder (FS) is one of the most common deformities accounted for 60% of shoulder abnormalities. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 6-weekstrength training, stretch training and comprehensive training in patients with forward shoulder abnormalities.Methods: This quasi-experimental study design Pre-posttest with control group. Forty females students with excessive forward shoulder angle (FS>52) were chosen using purposive sampling method. The average of age, weight, height and body mass index of the samples were 22.22±1.77 years, 61.22±1.90 kg, 161.85±2.55 cm, and 23.37±0.9kg.m2 respectively. The subjects were randomly divided into 4 groups (each 10 subjects), 3 experimental and 1 control groups. The first experimental group performed strength training, second group stretch training and third group comprehensive training for 6 weeks. In this period, the control group did not receive any training. We used photogrammetric method to measure the angle of the forward shoulder. Shoulder angle changes of the subjects before and after 6 weeks were measured. Data were analyzed using paired T-test, One-way analysis of variance and SPSS (21) (P£0.05).Results: According to study findings, paired t-test results in the experimental group showed that the forward shoulder angle of the subjects in corrective exercises significantly decreased so that after participating in 3 types of training program, strengthening (P=0.001, t=8.63), stretching (P=0.001, t=6.78) and comprehensive (P=0.001, t=12.11), the angle dropped in the order of 6.10, 4.90 and 7.10 degrees. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there are significant differences (P=0.001) among the effects of different exercises on the forward shoulder angle. Based on Tukey test results, the implementation of corrective exercises, strengthening (P=0.001), stretching (P=0.001), and comprehensive (P=0.001) showed a significant difference with the control group. However, no significant differences were observed among the groups of strength, stretching and comprehensive trainings with each other.Conclusion: The results demonstrated a significant decrease in the angle of forward shoulder in the experimental group. Therefore, using this program is recommended in subjects with these deformity.

Purpose: This study was accomplished to investigate the electromyographic activity of 3 plyometric exercises (tuck jump and single leg hop in sagittal and frontal planes) to find out the appropriate procedures for strengthening biceps femoris and gluteus medius muscles.Methods: The kind of study is applied and data were collected from the supervised exercises of 15 male athletes without injury of lower extremity from Tehran University, which participated voluntarily in this research. It was assumed that subjects expend the extreme potential during their activities. Statistical analysis was made using repeated measures ANOVA to investigate the muscle activity in feed forward and feedback phases of landing with SPSS 20.Results: Significant differences (P£0.05) were found between treatments in relation to feed forward and feedback phases of muscles activities. Single leg hop in sagittal and frontal planes showed the highest activity of biceps femoris and gluteus medius in feed forward phase, respectively. Nevertheless, tuck jump demonstrated the lowest activity of these muscles in both phases.Conclusion: According to the results, single leg hop in sagittal and frontal planes could be the most appropriate exercises for improving strength and neuromuscular system of gluteus medius and biceps femoris. We should take special attention to these 2 plyometric exercises in exercise programs. However, tuck jump in comparison with 2 other exercises show less effectiveness.

Purpose: Given the high prevalence of varus malalignment of the knee and the consequences of walking on different surfaces on this malalignment, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of walking inclination on knee angle in the frontal plane of patients with varus malalignment.Methods: 18 male subjects with varus malalignment classified at grade 3 bowleg, within the age range of 19-24 years, volunteered to participate in this study. The parameters of knee angle in the frontal plane at the moments of heel contact, midstance and toe off when walking on -7.5, zero, +5 and +10 percent of treadmill inclination were calculated using three-dimensional motion analysis system with six optoelectronic cameras. Repeated measures of variance and non-parametric Friedman test were used for data analysis.Results: The results of the present study showed that as walking inclination increases, knee angle in the frontal plane decreases. The only significant differences were related to varus angle between +10 and zero percent inclinations at the moment of midstance (P<0.001) and between -7.5 and zero percent inclinations at the moment of toe off (P<0.001) and in case of other parameters, no significant differences were observed.Conclusion: According to the obtained results, walking on upslope surfaces, probably is a suitable solution to reduce the load exerted on the knee and prevent premature osteoarthritis in young individuals with varus malalignment.

Purpose: LBP is one of the most common health issues throughout the world and has multiple causes which one of them is the defect in motor patterns. This study compared the effectiveness of stability, general and mixed exercises on the electromyographic activity of ipsilateral erector spinae muscle (IES), contralateral erector spinae muscle (CES), gluteus maximus (GM) and medial hamstring (MH) during prone hip extension (PHE) in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP).Methods: The study used an interventional quasi-experimental design. Thirty patients with NSCLBP between the ages of 20 to 40 years were randomly divided into 3 groups (each with ten patients) including stability, general and mixed groups. The study was conducted in Spring and Summer of 2014 in Amir Physical Clinic in Isfahan. MVEA of the muscles was measured using surface electromyography (EMG) prior and after exercises during PHE. Exercises were done for 10 sessions and 3 times per week. The obtained data by SPSS (version 22) and using the Kolmogorov- Smirnov test, Independent t–test Paired t test and ANCOVA were analyzed.Results: MVEA of GM (P=0.036) significantly increased in the group who practiced with mixed exercises. Also‚ the exercises decreased MVEA of IES‚ MH and CES. Besides, this decrease for IES (P=0.024) was significant but for MH (P=0.973) and CES (P=0.111) were not. However, the statistical results did not show any significance among any two and or all three groups.Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that mixed exercises are more effective than stability and general exercises on the EMG activity of lumbo- pelvic muscles and could alter the electrical activity pattern of these muscles.

Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dominant lower limb on the correlation between some of the dynamic variables of ankle joint and center of mass during quiet standing balance control.Methods: Twelve healthy females with no known neurological or musculoskeletal disorders, with the mean age of 26±3.5 years, participated in this study. Motion analysis system, force platform and Visual3D software were utilized in order to measure and compute the research variables. The relationship between research variables was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. T test and One-way ANOVA were used to examine the effect of dominant leg on the correlations.Results: Findings indicated the correlation between ankle joint moment and center of mass displacement (r=0.95) was higher than the correlation between ankle angular displacement and center of mass displacement (r=0.84). It seems that the leg factor (dominance and no ndominance) does not influence the correlation of angular displacement of ankle joint and center of mass displacement. However, it influenced the correlation between ankle joint moment and center of mass displacement.Conclusion: Therefore according to the present study it can be said that the kinetic variables of ankle joints are more important than kinematic variables for the prediction of center of mass displacement. In addition, it is suggested that in order to evaluate the lower extremity dynamics, during balance control, dominant and non-dominant lower limbs of the subjects be noticed too.

Purpose: In modern societies, in order to save medical costs and provide improved and comprehensive healthcare services, cooperation of various specialties in the form of teamwork has gained significant popularity. Physiotherapists, as members of the treatment team, try to improve the health of their fellow human beings. This study aimed to describe physiotherapists’ experience and perception of teamwork in hospital environment.Methods: This study was conducted using the conventional qualitative method of content analysis. Participants were 11 physiotherapists with 7-25 years of work experience, who were purposefully selected from 6 hospitals in Tehran. For data collection, in-depth semi-structured interviews over one year (2012-2013) were conducted and the obtained data were analyzed using content analysis method.Results: The findings obtained from the interviews were categorized into two main areas : 1) changes in the beliefs and feelings of the physiotherapists, including increased satisfaction, motivation, increased relaxation, decreased stress and work pressure, accepting criticism, increased trust in and respect for physiotherapy services, giving specialists a holistic view, and 2) increased job productivity, higher quality of services, more references; avoiding parallel procedures; reduction of secondary complications of diseases, increased awareness and knowledge.Conclusion: Teamwork has positive effects on the beliefs, feelings, and job productivity of the physiotherapists working in Tehran hospitals. Because of the growing trend of chronic diseases and increasing elderly population in Iran, provision of comprehensive and holistic healthcare services seems to be necessary in Iran and the need for further research on teamwork is pressing.

Purpose: Physiological changes during pregnancy impose numerous changes on the respiratory system that can affect the health of both mother and fetus. Regarding the importance of the normal breathing in the health of mother and fetus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of breathing exercise on breathing pattern of pregnant women.Methods: The study population was pregnant women with gestational age of 28 weeks. The sample comprised 52 pregnant women aged 18 to 35 years. The subjects were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group performed specific breathing exercises 3 times a day, each time 15-20 minutes for 10 weeks. In this period, the control group did not receive any training program. Pressure of End Tidal Carbon Dioxide (PETCO2) was measured using capnography device before and after this period in both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine normal distribution of the data. In order to study the changes within each group, paired t-test was used and for comparing the groups, Independent t-test was used. P<0.05 was considered as the significant level.Results: Comparison of PETCO2 of two groups before performing breathing exercises showed that mean PETCO2 in the intervention group was 1.08 mmHg less than the control group. This difference was not significant (P=0.308). However, after performing breathing exercises, mean PETCO2 in the intervention group was 2.34 mmHg higher than the control group, which showed a significant difference (P=0.011).Conclusion: According to these results, performing breathing exercises increases the amount of PETCO2 and pushes it toward the normal range in pregnant women. Therefore, these exercises can help modify breathing patterns in pregnant women, and has a significant role in fetal and maternal health.