2007/02/01 by Janice M Moreside, Janice M. Moreside, Francisco J Vera-Garcia +3 · 1 citation
Medicine · #Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation #Scoliosis diagnosis and treatment #Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology
paper · pdf · doi:10.2522/ptj.20060019
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to analyze the trunk muscle activation patterns, spine kinematics, and lumbar compressive forces that occur when using the Bodyblade, a popular tool in physical medicine clinics. SUBJECTS: The participants were 14 male subjects who were healthy and who were recruited from a university population. METHODS: With data collected from surface electromyography of selected trunk and shoulder muscles, video analysis, and a 3-dimensional lumbar spine position sensor, modeling methods were used to quantify L4-5 compressive forces and spine stability. RESULTS: Large-amplitude oscillation of a vertically oriented Bodyblade resulted in the greatest activation levels of the internal oblique and external oblique muscles (average amplitude=48% and 26% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction, respectively), which were associated with L4-5 compressive forces as high as 4,328 N. Instantaneous stability increased with well-coordinated effort, muscle activation, and compression, but decreased when subjects had poor technique. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The way the Bodyblade is used may either enhance or compromise spine stability. Associated lumbar compressive forces may be inappropriate for some people with compression-intolerant lumbar spine pathology.