To examine using surface electromyography whether stair climbing with abdominal hollowing (AH) is better at facilitating local trunk muscle activity than stair climbing without AH.
Twenty healthy men with no history of low back pain participated in the study. Surface electrodes were attached to the multifidus (MF), lumbar erector spinae, thoracic erector spinae, transverse abdominus - internal oblique abdominals (TrA-IO), external oblique abdominals (EO), and the rectus abdominis. Amplitudes of electromyographic signals were measured during stair climbing. Study participants performed maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) for each muscle in various positions to normalize the surface electromyography data.
AH during stair climbing resulted in significant increases in normalized MVCs in both MFs and TrA-IOs (p<0.05). Local trunk muscle/global trunk muscle ratios were higher during stair climbing with AH as compared with stair climbing without AH. Especially, right TrA-IO/EO and left TrA-IO/EO were significantly increased (p<0.05).
Stair climbing with AH activates local trunk stabilizing muscles better than stair climbing without AH. The findings suggest that AH during stair climbing contributes to trunk muscle activation and trunk stabilization.
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To describe a hand-stretching device that was developed for the management of hand spasticity in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients, and the effects of this device on hand spasticity.
Fifteen chronic hemiparetic stroke patients with finger flexor spasticity were recruited and randomly assigned to an intervention group (8 patients) or a control group (7 patients). The stretching device consists of a resting hand splint, a finger and thumb stretcher, and a frame. In use, the stretched state was maintained for 10 minutes per exercise session, and the exercise was performed twice daily for 4 weeks. Spasticity of finger flexor muscles in the two groups was assessed 3 times, 4 weeks apart, using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). Patients in the intervention group were assessed twice (pre-1 and pre-2) before and once (post-1) after starting the stretching program.
Mean MAS (mMAS) scores at initial evaluations were not significantly different at pre-1 in the intervention group and at 1st assessment in the control group (p>0.05). In addition, no significant differences were observed between mMAS scores at pre-1 and pre-2 in the intervention group (p>0.05). However, mMAS scores at post-1 were significantly lower than that at pre-2 in the intervention group (p<0.05). Within the control group, no significant changes in mMAS scores were observed between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd assessments (p>0.05). In addition, mMAS scores at post-1 in the intervention group were significantly decreased compared with those at the 3rd assessment in the control group (p<0.05).
The devised stretching device was found to relieve hand spasticity effectively in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients.
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