2016, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part F
A comparative study on the effect of hot pack and ultrasound therapy prior to passive stretching on the extensibility of plantar flexors among Asia Metropolitan University students
Author(s): Sabitha Eunice Regima, Rajan Balakrishnan, Sharmela Arumugam
Abstract:Title: A comparative study on therneffect of hot pack and ultrasound therapy prior to passive stretching on thernextensibility of plantar flexors among Asia Metropolitan University students.
Background: Reduced ankle dorsiflexionrnis a common problem which will cause calf pain. Limited dorsiflexion is sornoften caused by tight calf muscles and is itself linked to injuries such asrnAchilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis. When the motion at the ankle isrnrestricted, the ankle tries to compensate by increasing pronation at the foot,rnwhich as we have already seen can overwork the tibialis posterior muscle, lierndeep inside the calf. Common causes of tight calf muscles appear in those whornwear high heels because their feet are automatically pointed downward in arnplantar-flexed position because of their high heels. A muscle needs to be atrnits ideal resting length to produce optimal performance. A tight, shortenedrnmuscle doesn't have the same range when it comes to contracting that a musclernof a healthy length has.
Objective: To compare the effect ofrnhot pack and ultrasound therapy prior to passive static stretching on thernextensibility of plantar flexors.
Design: A Quasi Experimental Design
Subjects: About 30 subjects werernrecruited for this study from the university. The baseline measurements ofrnankle dorsiflexion range of motion were assessed by appropriate tools. Based onrnthe measurement obtained, the samples were allocated into two different groups,rnwhich received moist pack and ultrasound before passive stretching. After eachrnday of therapy and stretching intervention, the new range of motion wasrnmeasured again as it is done in the baseline.
Results: The results obtained in thernpretest values of ultrasound group and hot pack mean are 11.33 and 9.33rnrespectively. It shows that the ultrasound group has a higher mean valuerncompared to the hot pack group. However after the intervention, the posttestrnresults showed significance where their p values was 0.00 where ‘ p’ value werern< 0.05 for both the groups that there was no significance difference betweenrnboth the groups after 4 weeks of intervention, thus the null hypothesis isrnaccepted.
Conclusion: Among the modalities tested,rnthe use of ultrasound for 7 minutes prior passive stretching may be the mostrneffective way for increasing ankle dorsiflexion ROM compared to hot pack priorrnto stretching within a shorter period of time than 4 weeks.
Pages: 357-363 | 1957 Views 335 DownloadsDownload Full Article: Click Here
How to cite this article:
Sabitha Eunice Regima, Rajan Balakrishnan, Sharmela Arumugam. A comparative study on the effect of hot pack and ultrasound therapy prior to passive stretching on the extensibility of plantar flexors among Asia Metropolitan University students. Int J Phys Educ Sports Health 2016;3(1):357-363.