Hamstring Viscoelasticity and Low Back Pain

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Low Back Pain; Athletic Injuries

• Registration Number: NCT05939609
• Lead Sponsor: Istanbul Nisantasi University

Brief Summary

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent issue among adolescent rowers, particularly males aged 14 to 16 years, with a high lifetime prevalence (94%) and point prevalence (65%). One of the mechanisms of lower back pain in rowing athletes is about the elasticity, stiffness and tone of the hamstring muscle.

Current literature shows that stretching exercises, strengthening exercises and kinesiotaping affects hamstring viscoelasticity in various ways. Stretching exercises affect hamstring muscle tone and elasticity, strengthening exercises affect muscle stiffness and kinesiotaping affects muscle tone. While the effects of each of these interventions on viscoelastic properties individually are examined in the literature, studies comparing the effects of changes in viscoelastic properties caused by these interventions on low back pain, athletic disability index and athletic performance in rowers and their superiority among each other are lacking.

The goal of this study is to change the viscoelasticity of the hamstring muscles and examine its effect on low back pain, disability index and athletic performance.

Detailed Description

Volunteer male elite rowing athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 who score 3/10 or higher on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale at the time of activity will be included in the study. Signed voluntary consent will be obtained from participants and their legal representatives. Participants will be divided into three groups. Study groups will be as follows: a) ballistic hamstring stretching exercise b) hamstring extender exercise c) kinesiotaping

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2023-07-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-07-01
• Study First Posted: 2023-07-11
• Study Start: 2023-08-01
• Primary Completion: 2024-02-01
• Study Completion: 2024-05-01
• Status Verified: 2024-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-07-29
• Last Update Posted: 2024-07-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

• Being between ages 14 and 18 and male gender
• Having been rowing at an elite level for at least one year with a professional team
• Having pain 3/10 or higher on NPRS
• Participating to the study in a voluntary basis.

Exclusion Criteria

• Having limitation in lower extremity range of motion that limits completion of interventions
• Having a musculoskeletal injury involving the lower extremity in the last 6 months.
• Having undergone a operation in the last 6 months.
• Failing to complete any of interventions.
• Wanting to quit from study.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Decrement of Biceps Femoris Muscle	change from baseline decrement at 6 weeks	The elasticity of a muscle is described by a logarithmic reduction of tissue's normal amplitude. It is more related with the dissipation of mechanical energy that arises between the deformation of the tissue and its recovery. It is a biomechanical feature of tissue that is called as elasticity. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Decrement of Semitendinosus Muscle	change from baseline decrement at 6 weeks	The elasticity of a muscle is described by a logarithmic reduction of tissue's normal amplitude. It is more related with the dissipation of mechanical energy that arises between the deformation of the tissue and its recovery. It is a biomechanical feature of tissue that is called as elasticity. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Stiffness of Semitendinosus Muscle	change from baseline stiffness at 6 weeks	Stiffness of muscle is described by reaction to contraction or forces from outside of tissue that may cause the original form to deteriorate. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Frequency of Biceps Femoris Muscle	change from baseline frequency at 6 weeks	The tones of muscle is described by frequency of muscle or oscillation frequency (Hz). It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Frequency of Semitendinosus Muscle	change from baseline frequency at 6 weeks	The tones of muscle is described by frequency of muscle or oscillation frequency (Hz). It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Stiffness of Biceps Femoris Muscle	change from baseline stiffness at 6 weeks	Stiffness of muscle is described by reaction to contraction or forces from outside of tissue that may cause the original form to deteriorate. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.
Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)	change from baseline pain at the time of activity at 6 weeks	The NPRS is a segmented numeric version of the visual analog scale (VAS) in which a respondent selects a whole number (0-10 integers) that best reflects the intensity of his/her pain. The 11-point numeric scale ranges from '0' representing one pain extreme (e.g. "no pain") to '10' representing the other pain extreme (e.g. "pain as bad as you can imagine" or "worst pain imaginable").

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Standing Long Jump Test (SLJT)	change from baseline performance level at 6 weeks	It is a horizontal jump test that measures anaerobic performance.
2K-rowing test	change from baseline performance time at 6 weeks	It is an ergometer test that measures 2,000 meter rowing time as a gold standard.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

İstanbul Nisantasi University; 🇹🇷 Istanbul, Maslak, Turkey