All of our Physiospot blogs can now be found together at www.physiospot.com
Following the migration of all our Physiopsot blogs into one location all the old feeds and email alerts have become inactive. You will need to go to our new Physiospot site and sign up for your new updates.
With the expansion in the number of Physispot blogs available in 2007 it has become quite a large task to continually juggle them all and is not conducive to an effective service for our readers. We have therefore made the decision to amalgamate all the blogs into one place at www.physiospot.com. Whilst you will be able to read all the articles that have been selected as clinically relevant and posted we have developed separate areas of the site for research in different clinical areas.
By making the management process more efficient not only will we be able to devote more time to actually posting articles but it will also provide a number of additional benefits:
There is one small inconvenience to our readers which can be easily overcome. As of today the email alerts and feeds for all the old physispot blogs will cease to function. You will need to sign up again to receive the update alerts that you are interested in. Go to the update options page to sign up now for your RSS feed and Email Alerts. You can also download our toolbar to receive updates straight to your desktop and follow us on Twitter from this page.
We hope that all our readers are happy with the developments and that you enjoy the site and continue to find it useful, had we not done this we may not have been able to carry on with the juggling! Visit the new site at www.physiospot.com
Ogai, R, Yamane, M, Matsumoto, T, Kosaka, M
Petrissage is assumed to influence circulation as well as interstitial drainage of both superficial and deep tissues. To study its effect it was applied between consecutive bouts of supramaximal exercise performed by the lower leg muscles. For the first exercise bouts total power did not differ between MA and CO. Courses of blood lactate did not differ between MA and CO. However, recovery from measured muscle stiffness and perceived lower limb fatigue were more pronounced and total power during the second exercise bout was enhanced in MA as compared with CO subjects.
Petrissage improved cycle ergometer pedalling performance independent of blood lactate but in correlation with improved recovery from muscle stiffness and perceived lower limb fatigue.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2008, 42, 534-538
The objective of this study was to determine if asymmetry of trunk muscles and deficits of motor control exist among elite cricketers with and without low back pain (LBP). The QL and LES + M muscles were larger ipsilateral to the dominant arm. In the subgroup of fast bowlers with LBP, the asymmetry in the QL muscle was the greatest. The IO muscle was larger on the side contralateral to the dominant arm. No difference between sides was found for the psoas and TrA muscles. Cricketers with LBP showed a reduced ability to draw in the abdominal wall and contract the TrA muscle independently of the other abdominal muscles.
This study provides new insights into trunk muscle size and function in elite cricketers, and evidence of impaired motor control in elite cricketers with LBP. Rehabilitation using a motor control approach has been shown to be effective for subjects with LBP, and this may also benefit elite cricketers.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2008, 42, 509-513
Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is a common clinical presentation. Various neuromuscular factors have been reported to contribute to its aetiology. This systematic review examined that: (1) the effects of hip strengthening in subjects with PFPS; (2) the effects of physiotherapy treatment aimed at restoring muscle balance between the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) and vastus lateralis (VL) in subjects with PFPS; (3) the effect of taping on electromyogram (EMG) muscle amplitude in subjects with PFPS; and (4) compared the effects of open versus closed kinetic chain exercises in the treatment of subjects with PFPS.
Physiotherapy treatment programmes appear to be an efficacious method of improving quadriceps muscle imbalances. Further studies are required to determine the true efficacy of therapeutic patellar taping. Both open and closed kinetic chain exercises are appropriate forms of treatment for subjects with PFPS.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2008, 42, 489-495
Ryan ED, Beck TW, Herda TJ, Hull HR, Hartman MJ, Costa PB, Defreitas JM, Stout JR, Cramer JT
The objective of this study was to examine the acute effects of different durations of passive
stretching on the time course of musculotendinous stiffness (MTS)
responses in the plantar flexor muscles. Twelve subjects participated in 4 randomly-ordered
experimental trials: control with no stretching, 2 min, 4 min , and 8 min of passive stretching. The passive-stretching
trials involved progressive repetitions of 30-second passive stretches,
while the control trial involved 15 minutes of resting. MTS assessments
were conducted before (prestretching), immediately after
(poststretching), and at 10, 20, and 30 minutes poststretching on a
Biodex System 3 isokinetic dynamometer. MTS decreased
immediately after all stretching conditions however, MTS for the 2min condition returned to baseline within
10 minutes, whereas MTS after the 4min and 8min passive-stretching
conditions returned to baseline within 20 minutes.
Practical durations of passive stretching resulted in significant decreases in MTS; however, these changes return to baseline levels within 10 to 20 minutes.
Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2008, 38(10), 632-639
This study investigated whether the current shoulder stretching program was sufficient to stretch the entire posterior capsule. Using 8 fresh-frozen cadaver shoulders 8 stretching positions for the posterior capsule were simulated by passive internal rotation. Stretching positions of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° of elevation in the scapular plane; 60° of flexion; 60° of abduction; 30° of extension; and 60° of flexion and horizontal adduction were adopted. Strain was measured in the upper, middle, and lower parts of the capsule.
Based on the results of this cadaver study, large strains on the posterior capsule of the shoulder were obtained at a stretching position of 30° of elevation in the scapular plane with internal rotation for the middle and lower capsule, while a stretching position of 30° of extension with internal rotation was effective for the upper and lower capsule. The current posterior capsule stretching program of the shoulder was not sufficient to stretch the entire posterior capsule.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2008, 36, 2014-2022
This study investigated hand, first ray, and finger injuries and the effect of upper extremity injuries in professional American football players. A retrospective review of all documented injuries to the hand, first ray, and fingers sustained by American football players in the National Football League over a 10-year period (1996–2005) was performed, the data were analyzed from multiple perspectives, with emphasis on the type of injury, athlete position, and activity at the time of injury.
Upper extremity trauma, especially injury to the hand, first ray, and fingers, is a significant source of morbidity for professional football players. The results of this study may be used to implement preventive measures to help minimize these injuries.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2008, 36, 1938-1944
Kristie-Lee Taylor, Jeremy M. Sheppard, Hamilton Lee, Norma Plummer
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the decline in performance normally associated with static stretching pervades when the static stretching is conducted prior to a sport specific warm-up. Thirteen netball players completed two experimental warm-up conditions. Day 1 warm-up involved a submaximal run followed by 15 min of static stretching and a netball specific skill warm-up. Day 2 followed the same design; however, the static stretching was replaced with a 15 min dynamic warm-up routine to allow for a direct comparison between the static stretching and dynamic warm-up effects.
The results suggest that the practice of a subsequent high-intensity skill based warm-up restored the differences between the two warm-up interventions. Hence, if static stretching is to be included in the warm-up period, it is recommended that a period of high-intensity sport-specific skills based activity is included prior to the on-court/field performance.
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 3 September 2008, online article ahead of print
