Effectiveness of Two Stretching Techniques on Healthy Volunteers With Shortened Hamstrings

NCT ID: NCT03084341

Last Updated: 2021-01-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 96 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-03-13
• Study Completion Date: 2017-06-30

Brief Summary

The main objective of this study is to compare the effect and the duration of the Neuromuscular Electrical Elongation (NMEE ) technique versus the PNF technique and versus a control group, on the extensibility of the hamstrings muscles.

Hypothesis:

NMEE of shortened hamstrings muscles in healthy subjects, compared with PNF and control group produces a significant increase in hamstrings extensibility.

Detailed Description

It is a double-blinded randomized clinical trial where subjects are healthy volunteers from the city of Zaragoza older than 18 years. All subjects will be injury free at the time of the study and must not have a history of knee or hip surgery. They must be physically active, but without engaging in competition-level sports, and must have flexibility deficits, as measured in the AKE test position and SLK test position (<60º AKE; < 80º SLK).

There will be an NMEE Group (Neuromuscular Electrical Elongation), an PNF Group (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) and a Control Group (No Invervention).

Intervention:

NMEE technique will be performed by stretching the muscle till resistance and applying a bipolar interferential current to produce an involuntary contraction of the muscle which will be maintained 3 seconds. After that, the subject will contract the antagonist muscle (quadriceps) actively until he feels resistance again . Then, intensity of the electrical current is increased again. This cycle will be repeated 4 times.

PNF technique will be performed by stretching the muscle till resistance is felt. Then the patient will have to make an isometric contraction of the muscle (against resistance) during 3 seconds. After that, the subject will contract the antagonist muscle (quadriceps) actively until he feels resistance again. This contract-stretch cycle will be repeated 4 times.

Control group: This group will not receive a training program.

In case of shortening, the assigned intervention will be performed until the values considered normal with a maximum of 8 stretching sessions (2 per week). Otherwise, if there is no shortening, the intervention will end at that moment.

Assessment:

To assess the effectiveness of these techniques several tests will be performed on the subjects.

For hamstrings extensibility:

• Active-Knee-Extension Test (AKE) results will bring information of the knee extension range of motion.
• Straight-Leg-Raise Test (SLR) results will bring information of the hip flexion range of motion.

For quadriceps extensibility:

• Goniometric measure of knee flexion.
• Distance from heel to gluteus using a tape measure.

Viscoelasticity properties of hamstrings and quadriceps muscles:

• Myotonometric measurement using a myotonometer to obtain frequency, decrement (elasticity) and stiffness.

For neural assessment:

• The Slump Test is a neural tension test used to detect altered neurodynamics or neural tissue sensitivity.

Conditions

Muscle Tone Abnormalities

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

NMEE Group

Neuromuscular Electrical Elongation

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Neuromuscular Electrical Elongation

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Electrotherapy equipment will be used, choosing an interferential current through bipolar application,with a frequency of 4 kHz and a frequency modulation amplitude of 100 Hz.

PNF Group

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation stretching

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Hold-relax technique that involves lengthening the muscle to the point of limitation, at which point the individual performs an isometric contraction for up to 10 s, followed by a passive movement of the limb into the new end-range.

Control Group

No intervention

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Neuromuscular Electrical Elongation

Electrotherapy equipment will be used, choosing an interferential current through bipolar application,with a frequency of 4 kHz and a frequency modulation amplitude of 100 Hz.

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

Hold-relax technique that involves lengthening the muscle to the point of limitation, at which point the individual performs an isometric contraction for up to 10 s, followed by a passive movement of the limb into the new end-range.

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy Volunteers
• Older than 18 years
• Bilateral shortened hamstrings muscles with a knee extension under 60º (TEAR, Neto et al., 2015) and a ROM under 80º in the hip (straight leg raise test angle, Espejo-Antúnez et al., 2015)

Exclusion Criteria

• Participation in a muscular stretching program during the study
• Previous history of surgical intervention in the hip, tight or knee
• Muscle-skeletal pain or injury in the low back or inferior limbs
• Abdominal o spine surgery within three month before the study beginning.

Exit Criteria:

• Patient´s petition
• Change in the regular physical activity level during the study period
• Appearance of an injury that would contraindicate the use of stretching techniques

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Universidad San Jorge

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Maria Ortiz-Lucas

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Universidad San Jorge

Locations

Universidad San Jorge

Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, Spain

Countries

Spain

Other Identifiers

04/2016

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id