The Effects of Ankle Plantar Flexors Stretching Exercise on Functional Reach in Elderly Men

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ankle plantar flexors stretching exercise affects functional reach in elderly men. METHOD: Twenty elderly men with an average age of 78.2 years were selected for this study. A active range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion and a functional reach (FR) distance were measured before and after ankle stretching exercise. The ankle dorsiflexion was measured by goniometer in knee extended position. The FR distance was measured in standing position. Ankle plantar flexors stretching exercises were carried out by physical therapist 4 times per week for 4 weeks. At 4 weeks after the stretching exercise, we retested the active range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion and the FR distance using the same method. RESULTS: At 4 weeks after the stretching exercise, the active range of motion of right ankle dorsiflexion was increased from 2.81 +/- 3.26degrees to 5.98 +/- 4.34degrees, and the left ankle dorsiflexion was increased from 3.15 +/- 3.77degrees to 6.35 +/- 2.45degrees. The FR distance was increased form 12.22 +/- 7.54 cm to 19.69 +/- 8.59 cm after the stretching exercise. CONCLUSION: The FR distance was significantly increased after the ankle plantar flexors stretching exercise (p<0.01). This results suggest that the ankle plantar flexors stretching excercise may be capable of increasing the FR distance in elderly.

A Newly Designed Cervical Pillow and Comparative Study

OBJECTIVE: Poor head and neck support during sleep can exacerbate the neck pain. Based on the ideal sleep posture and pillow suggested by Cyriax, we designed a new cervical pillow and compared the degree of pain reduction, quality of sleep and pillow satisfaction with a low hospital pillow and a high pillow. METHOD: The newly designed pillow has a built-in pressure-adjustable air bag in the cervical area and provides normal cervical lordotic curve in supine position and maintains cervical and thoracic vertebrae to form a horizontal line in side-lying position. Thiry-four patients with cervical pain used low hospital pillows for the first week of 3-week randomized crossover design study. They were subsequently randomly assigned to use each of the other two pillows for 1-week period. Outcomes were measured using visual analog scale, sleep questionnaire and a pillow satisfaction scale. RESULT: Compared with the other 2 types of pillows, subjects using the newly designed pillow showed much reduced pain intensity, increased duration of sleep and sleep quality and better pillow satisfaction. CONCLUSION: We designed a cervical pillow with built-in pressure adjustable air bag and it can significantly reduce pain intensity and improve quality of sleep in patients with cervical pain.