Influence of modern technologies used in rehabilitation on selected functional parameters of the spine of patients with low back pain.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to examine influence of modern technologies used in the DBC method (Documentation Based Care) on the selected functional parameters of the spine of patients with low back pain. METHODS: The research group comprised of 196 patients randomly divided into two groups. Patients in Group I were subjected to DBC treatment with modern rehabilitation equipment, while patients in Group II underwent the traditional form of therapeutic exercise. All subjects included in the study suffered from chronic low-back pain lasting for a period of at least three months. All the symptoms were non-specific. RESULTS: The results presented in the article unequivocally reveal that patients who underwent DBC treatment achieved better, statistically significant improvement in spinal functionality. CONCLUSIONS: The modern technologies introduced to the treatment had a considerable impact on the selected functional parameters of the spine of patients with low back pain. The DBC method used as a rehabilitation program for low back pain had a statistically significant influence on the functional parameters of the spine.

Efficiency of active therapy for low back pain in elderly men.

BACKGROUND: Restoration of functionality in patients with low back pain is one of the most important rehabilitation and societal problems. The aim of this study was to verify the results of the DBC (Documentation Based Care) method used in elderly men. METHOD: This study evaluated the efficiency of DBC treatment on the basis of spinal mobility in sagittal, frontal and transverse planes and a subjective assessment of pain. There were two research groups: one with 187 men over the age of 65, and the other with 187 men under the age of 65. The patients in the study were carefully selected. All subjects suffered from chronic, non-specific low back pain lasting for a period of at least three months. CONCLUSION: The conducted analyses confirmed that a functional restoration process improved spinal mobility in all planes of movement, decreased pain and functional limitations, and reduced the level of depression.

Body balance in people practicing snowboarding.

PURPOSE: While snowboarding, the human body is subjected to many forces and factors affecting balance. It is assumed that practising snowboarding may improve balance, but the evidence from the literature is scarce. Therefore, our study aimed to examine the effect of snowboard training on balance parameters in adults. METHODS: The study included 34 subjects between 19 to 26 years old (21.4 ± 1.44) - students of the University School of Physical Education in Wroclaw. They were divided into 2 equal groups. The first group, the practising group consisted of 17 snowboarders who participated in a 6-day snowboard training. The second group, the control group consisted of 17 individuals who had never practised snowboarding. For the conduct of the study, a FreeMED force plate was used. The following parameters were measured: the length of COP sways, the surface of the COP ellipse, and COP ellipse angle. Tests were performed with eyes closed and open. RESULTS: Values of most of the parameters in the practising group decreased insignificantly after 6-day training. Values of parameters in the control group were in most cases insignificantly higher in comparison with the practising group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings may suggest that snowboard training has no effect on balance. Further research on larger groups of participants is required. Research methodology should include electromyography, measurement of the moment of muscle force, and kinematic analysis for evaluation movement during real snowboard ride.

Repeated cryostimulation improves position sense and simple reaction time.

[Purpose] Whole body cryotherapy has been shown to have many benefits, yet nothing is known if and how this modality can improve neuromuscular performance and retain those improvements. [Subjects and Methods] Joint position sense based on the bilateral knee joint matching test and simple reaction time was investigated in 25 young healthy adults who underwent an extended period of whole body cryostimulation. The measurements were taken at baseline and after 10, 20, and 30 whole body cryotherapy sessions, with three days elapsing after the last treatment, and comparing the results with 24 control subjects. [Results] Only when 20 sessions were completed did joint position sense and simple reaction time improve in the intervention group. After 30 sessions, the outcome was similar. Equal results were found at baseline and after 10 sessions in both groups, but the intervention group outstripped controls after 20 and 30 sessions in both joint position sense and simple reaction time. [Conclusion] These results indicate that the common standard of 10 sessions is insufficient, while approximately 20 sessions of whole body cryotherapy may efficiently enhance neuromuscular performance with an ability to sustain the effects for at least three days.

Changes in postural control between 13- and 19-year-old soccer players: is there a need for a specific therapy?

[Purpose] To investigate how increased training participation time and intensity affect postural control in young soccer players. [Subjects and Methods] Variability and mean velocity of sway were compared in U14 and U20 players during two-legged and one-legged quiet stances on a force plate with the player's eyes open or closed. [Results] U20 players performed much better with vision, and eyes closure considerably deteriorated their performance. The increased reliance on vision in the older group most likely resulted from the longer exposure of the U20 players to strenuous exercise, overload, and cumulative residual effects of earlier contusions. [Conclusion] These specific postural deficits in apparently healthy soccer players were found only because of objective and sensitive posturographic tests. The results of this study suggest that such tests should be regularly performed to increase the efficiency and precision of motor control evaluation in athletes. The corresponding results may help therapists mitigate the indiscernible yet detrimental changes in postural control that predispose soccer players to injury and negatively affect their performance.

Effect of frequent WBC treatments on the back pain therapy in elderly men.

Cryotherapy is the application of a stimulus of a cryotherapeutic temperature below -100 °C in a period of 1-3 min in order to stimulate and use physiological reactions of human body to cold. It can be applied to specific body parts or to a whole body. Whole-body cryotherapy is a treatment method applied in treatment of motor organ issues, nervous system diseases, psychiatry, dermatology and laryngology. The research group consisted of 80 male in the age range of 65-77 suffering from chronic, lasting more than 3 months, lower back pain. The subjects qualified to the research were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 40 patients who participated in whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) twice a week. Group B also contained 40 patients who participated in WBC whole week. Examinations were conducted twice. The first one was conducted before the commencement of the treatment while the second one after the therapy was over. The results of the research did not show any statistically significant improvement in patients from Group A. However, the results obtained by Group B have proven significant condition improvement and enable the researchers to conclude that WBC is effective in treating patients with lower back pain.

Hematological parameters, and hematopoietic growth factors: EPO and IL-3 in response to whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) in military academy students.

UNLABELLED: The effects of extreme cold on the human body are not fully understood, there are also no reports on the effect of cryogenic temperatures on the levels of erythropoietin (EPO) and interleukin 3 (IL-3), two important factors that regulate hematopoiesis. AIM: determination of changes in peripheral blood cell counts and EPO and IL-3 levels induced by a series of 10, 20 and 30 standard whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) treatments. The study involved 45 men, experimental group (EXP, n = 30) subjected to 30 WBC treatments (-130°C, treatment duration: 3 minutes) and a control group (CON, n = 15). Blood samples were collected before the series of treatments and after 10, 20 and 30 treatments. After 10 and 20 treatments we observed lower red blood cell counts and hematocrit and hemoglobin levels compared to baseline (p<0.05) and the control group (p<0.05). Additionally we observed an increase in hemoglobin concentration in plasma (p<0.05), and bilirubin after 10 and 20 treatments, and a decrease in plasma concentration of haptoglobin after 10, 20 and 30 treatments (p<0.05). The number of leukocytes was higher after 10 and 20 WBC treatments compared to baseline and the CON group. EPO concentration in plasma was elevated and the concentration of IL-3 was lower after 10, 20 and 30 WBC treatments. The decrease in indices of the erythrocytic system, plasma hemoglobin and bilirubin, with a simultaneous decrease in haptoglobin concentrations after 10 and 20 WBC treatments, may be due to increased intravascular hemolysis. At the same time there was a small, but statistically significant increase in the concentration of EPO stimulated erythropoiesis which could facilitate a return of erythrocytic system indices to initial levels after 30 WBC treatments. Changes in the white blood cell system showed transient mobilization of this system under the influence of WBC.

Effect of cryotherapy on the lumbar spine in elderly men with back pain.

Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) is a procedure which is more and more often successfully applied in medicine. Used in physiotherapy programs improves the efficiency of physiotherapeutic exercises applied in different aliments. The aim of the research was to determine the influence of WBC treatment on the improvement of spine activity in elderly men. The evaluation was based on subjects suffering from chronic lower back pain. The research was conducted on 96 male in the age of 65-75 years suffering from chronic pain in the lumbar spine, lasting >3 months. All the subjects performed physical exercises at a gym. Half of the examined patients performed only physical exercises while the second half of the group participated in WBC before performing the same exercises. The research evaluated the mobility of lumbar spine at all movement planes and examined the values of active potentials of erector spinae in the lumbar part of the spine. The group of men who participated in WBC showed significantly lower values of active potentials of erector spinae muscles in the lumbar part of the spine and a significant increase in the range of the lumbar spine mobility, in comparison to the group which did not use WBC.

Acute effects of cryotherapy on postural control.

To investigate the acute effects of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) on postural control, we measured postural sway (COP) in a quiet stance with eyes open in four consecutive 20-second tests: before and 1, 6 and 11min after the WBC. Twenty-four healthy young subjects aged 19.3±0.9 were exposed to WBC (-110°C) for 2min. The time series recorded with a sampling rate of 100Hz was used to evaluate postural performance (COP variability) and strategies (COP frequency and entropy). There were no differences between the pre- and post-WBC values of these measurements in the frontal plane; however, in the sagittal plane postural sway increased immediately after WBC (p<0.05) and remained elevated throughout the experiment. Deteriorated performance brought about lagged changes in postural strategies, including a decrease in frequency and entropy. These changes remained sustained until the end of the experiment. In conclusion, the WBC caused a drop in complexity, adaptability, and automaticity in postural control, which accounted for specific constraints imposed on the postural system due to cooling.

Postural stability and body posture in older women: comparison between fallers and non-fallers.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to compare characteristics of postural sway and shape of anteroposterior spinal curvatures in faller and non-faller elderly women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study enrolled 265 women aged 51-82 years (mean: 66.2) who were physically fit and free from conditions affecting sensorimotor function. Balance was assessed by stabilographic method. Changes in the location of the centre of the force of foot pressure on the ground were registered over 20-second periods with the subjects standing still with eyes open and closed. Measures of variability in the COP signal were analysed together the viscoelastic parameters of the mathematical model in the standing position. Assessment of the shape of anteroposterior spinal curvatures was conducted by photogrammetric method. Indices of the degree of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were analysed. RESULTS: The group of women who had experienced at least one fall during the year displayed: a) with regard to body balance, a significantly larger range, variability and velocity of body sway in the sagittal plane and increased suppression of postural oscillations in the frontal plane; b) with regard to body posture, more pronounced forward inclination of the trunk, more marked thoracic kyphosis and a smaller degree of lumbar lordosis. CONCLUSIONS: Fallers demonstrate poorer body balance in the standing position and poorer body posture than non-fallers.

The effect of physiotherapy training programme on postural stability in men with hip osteoarthritis.

This study presents the influence of a physiotherapy training programme over the standing balance in elderly hip osteoarthritis (OA) patients. The aim of this study was to analyse the standing balance in elderly male hip OA patients, and to investigate how the physiotherapy training programme could significantly improve the balance. The tests were performed on a group of selected OA patients as well as on a group of age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects before and after the physiotherapy training programme. The significant differences were observed between the results of tests performed before and after the physiotherapy training programme, and also between the hip OA patients and the control subjects in all CPF parameters, in both sagittal and frontal planes. In conclusion, the hip OA has an effect on the process of maintaining the standing balance. Moreover the physiotherapy training programme significantly improves the postural stability in male hip OA patients.

The efficiency assessment of rehabilitation with DBC method in low back pain patients.

Rehabilitation in patients with low back pain is one of the crucial therapeutic and social problems. This work attempts to present therapeutic procedures according to DBC (Documentation Based Care) treatment concept. The aim of the research was to assess the efficiency of DBC method on the basis of spine mobility in frontal, saggital and transverse plane and also on the basis of patient's subjective feelings. The research was carried out among 50 patients (52,5 years on average) including 23 females and 27 males. All the patients participating in the research were chosen deliberately and suffered from chronic low back pain caused by degenerative changes. On the basis of research range of motion (ROM) improvement in all planes, decrease of pain and functional impairment were stated.