• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2020

Background: For performing various movements well, cooperation between the muscles around the scapula and shoulder has been emphasized. Taping has been widely used clinically as a helpful adjunct to other physiotherapy methods for shoulder pathology and dysfunction treatment. Previous studies have evaluated the effect of taping techniques using dynamic tapes on shoulder function and pain. However, no study investigated the electromyographic (EMG) changes in the shoulder muscles. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the upper limb offload taping technique using a dynamic tape on EMG activities of the upper trapezius (UT), lower trapezius, serratus anterior (SA), and middle deltoid (MD) muscles during scaption plane elevation. Methods: A total of 26 healthy subjects (19.85 ± 6.40 years, male = 20) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were instructed to perform scaption elevation with and without dynamic taping on the shoulder. Shoulder elevation strength tests were performed at 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%, for the maximal isometric contraction force. Results: There were statistically significant interaction effects between the taping application and shoulder scaption elevation force in EMG activities in the UT (p < 0.05) and MD (p < 0.05). EMG activities in the UT showed significant increases in 50%RVC (reference voluntary contraction, p < 0.05) and 25%RVC (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the EMG activity of the SA significantly increased in 50%RVC (p < 0.01) and 25%RVC (p < 0.01) after dynamic taping. For the MD, the EMG activity level significantly decreased in 100%RVC (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results indicated that upper limb offload dynamic taping application affects the muscle activities of some shoulder muscles depending on different scaption elevation strength levels. Therefore, we suggest that the upper limb offload dynamic taping can be applied to the shoulders when patients need middle deltoid inhibition or upper trapezius facilitation, such as patients with shoulder impingement syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.193-199
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the activities of the serratus anterior (SA) and upper trapezius (UT) muscles during scapular protraction exercise with a dumbbell. Twenty-one healthy subjects with no medial history of shoulder pain or upper extremity disorders were recruited for this study. Subjects performed scapular protraction at $90^{\circ}$ and $130^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion with a dumbbell in supine and standing positions. The activities of the SA and UT were measured via surface electromyography (EMG) during 4 scapular protraction exercises. A 2 (angle) ${\times}$ 2 (position) repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the normalized activities of the SA and UT and the UT/SA ratio. The results showed that activities of both the SA and UT were the highest for the scapular protraction exercise at $130^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion in the standing position. However, the UT/SA ratio was the lowest for the exercise at $90^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion in supine position. Therefore, for selective activation of the SA muscle, we recommend performing the scapular protraction exercise with a dumbbell in the supine position at $90^{\circ}$ shoulder flexion.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.504-514
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• 2017

Discomfort as well as muscular pain and musculoskeletal diseases occur in cases of stressed posture due to prolonged pressure. Therefore, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) recommend that bags that weigh no more than 15 - 20% of the wearer's weight. However, despite the prolonged pressure from using baby carriers, there are no recommendations and limited studies on how to protect wearers. Therefore, this study investigates subjective fatigue according to the usage of waist support and hip seat. Based on this, muscle fatigue and secondary subjective fatigue according to three types of currently commercial baby carriers (X-type, H-type, and H-hip type) were measured. Subjective comfortability was evaluated on a 5 point Likert-scale and subjective fatigue was evaluated on Borg's CR-10 scale. Objective muscle fatigue was also compared by measuring and analyzing electromyogram (EMG). The results of primary subjective fatigue showed statistically significant changes in the shoulders, waist, calves, and soles of the feet according to the usage of hip seats and waist support. Electromyogram measurements also showed less muscle fatigue at the upper trapezius muscle and thoracic erector spine muscle for the H-hip seat baby carrier, which has both waist support and hip seat, compared to an X-type baby carrier, which has neither. However, results of subjective fatigue showed opposite results at the waist despite having same results at the shoulders and beneath the shoulders. This show discrepancies between objective muscle fatigue and subjective fatigue; therefore, that both aspects must be taken into consideration when developing ergonomic baby carriers.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.107-116
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of these clinical cases is to evaluate the effectiveness of Korean medical therapy on neck pain with cervical syringomyelia Methods : These are case reports on 2 patients admitted to Daejeon jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine with neck pain and diagnosis of cervical syringomyelia by Cervical spine Magnetic Resonance Imaging, were observed during hospitalization. They were analyzed according to pain and Cervical spine Range of Motion. All patients received a combination of treatments including Acupunture, Chuna, Pharmacopunture, Herbal medication. Pain scales(Number Rating Scale, Neck Disability Index) and Cervical spine Range of Motion were used during hospitalization. Results : After 3 weeks for these patients, Cervical spine Number Rating Scales decreased from 7 to 3 and from 9 to 4 respectively. And Trapezius muscle Number Rating Scales decreased from 7 to 3 and from 2 to 1 respectively. Also Cervical spine Range of Motion improved to the normal. Conclusions : Korean medical therapy might be effective in reducing pain and improving range of motion for patients with neck pain. And we hope this study further confirmed the effectiveness of Korean medical therapy on neck pain with cervical syringomyelia.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.147-155
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• 2023

Purpose: Headache is a very common disease experienced at least once in daily life, and tension-type headaches have a high and increasing prevalence. Chronic headaches can cause functional damage and huge socioeconomic impacts. This study aimed to compare the effects of myofascial release technique with manual therapy and self-myofascial release technique using a foam roller on the pain threshold and body schema in patients with chronic tension-type headaches. Methods: The study was conducted on 20 patients living in Busan with chronic tension headaches. Myofascial release technique with manual therapy was performed on the suboccipital, sternocleidomastoid, scalene, and upper trapezius muscles. The self -myofascial release technique using a foam roller was applied to the cervical and thoracic muscles. A laterality test was performed using a recognized neck application developed to evaluate body schema ability. A pressure-pain threshold test was performed using an electronic pressure algometer to compare the results before and after the myofascial release technique. Results: After applying myofascial release with manual therapy and a foam roller, the pressure-pain threshold values showed significant changes in both groups (p<.05). As a result of the laterality test, myofascial release with manual therapy and a foam roller were applied to the painful area. The values showed significant changes in both groups (p<.05), but only the group using the foam roller showed a significant difference (p<.05) in painless areas. Conclusion: The myofascial release technique with manual therapy can be the primary treatment technique for pain control in painful areas. The self-muscle release technique using a foam roller can be an effective method when there is no pain or when maintenance is needed after pain control.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.189-206
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigate the factors affecting muscle activity and cephalometric variables according to change of head postures. For this study, 150 patients with temporomandibular disorders and 80 dental students without any signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders were selected as the patients group and as the normal group, respectively. Head position to body-midline in frontal plane and upper quarter posture to body plumb line in sagittal plane were observed clinically and electromyographic(EMG) activity of anterior temporalis, masseter, sternocleidomastoideus, and trapezius on clenching were recorded with $BioEMG^{(R)}$ in four head postures, which were natural head posture(NHP), forward head posture(FHP), $20^{\circ}$ upward head posture(UHP), and $20^{\circ}$ downward head posture(DHP). Cephaloradiographs were also taken in the same head postures as in EMG taking, but that was taken only in NHP for the patient group. Cephalometric variables measured were SN angle, CVT angle, atlas inclination angle, occlusal plane angle, Me-C2 angle, pharyngeal width, occiput~axis distance, area of pharyngeal space, and cervical curvature. The data were analyzed by SAS statistical program. The results of this study were as follows : 1. Between the patient and the normal group, there were significant difference in distance from plumb line to acromion, eye-tragus angle, electromyographic activity of the four muscles, and cephalometric variables of linear measurement. 2. There was no consistent pattern of correlation between upper quarter posture, EMG activity and cephalometric variables in any case without relation to cervical curvature and head position in frontal plane. 3. Sternocleidomastoid muscle only showed variation of electromyographic activty with changes of head postures, but all the muscles did show correlation with head postures. 4. All the cephalometric variables measured in this study showed difference of mean value by head posture, and CVT angle, pharyngeal width, occiput-atlas distance, and area of pharyngeal space showed correlation between these variables with change from NHP to FHP, and from NHP to UHP.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.55-58
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of treatment with thread-embedding therapy for 24 patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS). The muscle spasm of these patients was treated with thread-embedding therapy. Patients with nuchal pain were treated with tendino-musculature acupuncture in the sternocleidomastoid, splenius, and trapezius muscles. We evaluated the treatment effect using the Scott's scale, where 20, 3, 1, and 0 patients presented Scott's grade 0, grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, respectively. The grade of the spasm intensity decreased noticeably after treatment. The results revealed that the Scott's grade changed to 0 in 83.3% of HFS patients, and 91.7% patients felt satisfied with thread-embedding therapy. These findings suggested that thread-embedding therapy was effective and can be used widely for HFS.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.195-199
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• 1999

Background: At present, there is no reliable objective test for the diagnosis of myofascial trigger points (MFTP). We evaluated the usefulness of skin resistance point finder for the diagnosis of MFTP. Methods: 40 subjects with clinical MFTPs at the upper trapezius muscle were included in this study. Using skin resistance point finder (UNIQUE S-2010$^{(R)}$, Seik medical, Korea), we tried to find out the point of low skin resistance. At three different current level, sensitivity and specificity of this method for the diagnosis of clinically identified MFTP was evaluated. Pressure threshold for pain of low skin resistance point was measured using Pressure Threshold Meter$^{(R)}$ (Pain Diagnostics and Thermography, U.S.A.). 3 groups of point detected at different current were compared in mean pressure threshold. Results: Fixed single current of skin resistance point finder showed variable sensitivity and specificity. But, by adjusting current level, skin resistance point finder detected all of 40 clinically identified MFTPs. Although it is partially statistically significant, the mean pressure threshold of points detected at high current was high. Conclusion: Skin resistance finder can be used as objective diagnostic tool of MFTPs. There is possibility that it can be useful in evaluating treatment effect. However, more investigation is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to compare Ultra Sound(U-S), Silver Spike Point(SSP) and Electro-Acupuncture(E-A) with each other and to objectively analyze their concrete validities and their effects on the deactivation of trigger points in patients with myofascial pain syndrome, and to provide basic necessary principles for clinical therapists. Sixty patients were randomly distributed into three groups of twenty persons each and the U-S, the SSP and the E-A were applied to each group respectively. Tree pain evaluation methods of VAS(Visual Analogue Scale), Electrical Stimulation Scale and Pressure Algometer were adopted to measure the effectiveness of each therapy. The results were as follows: The U-S and E-A groups demonstrated statistically significant decrease on the VAS. The pain thresholds by Electrical Stimulation Scale method was increased for all the groups of U-S, SSP and E-A with no statistical significance. however, Pressure Algometer method was found to increase the pain thresholds for both SSP and E-A groups with statistically significance. Statistically significant improvement was found for all the groups together after the administration of the U-S, the SSP and the E-A. From the above results, three methods of U-S, SSP and E-A are found to be effective tools for the deactivation of trigger points in patients with upper trapezius muscle of Myofascial Pain Syndrome. The E-A method was found to be the most effective among three methods.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.15-24
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• 2015

Background: Many people are suffering from neck and shoulder pain due to muscle weakness, muscle fatigue, lack of exercise and accidents during exercise. In this study we compared the effects of McKenzie method and Mulligan technique method. Method: we randomly selected men(10) and women(10) and they are the 20s students of Busan material K college. We divided for McKenzie exercise group and Mulligan exercise group. McKenzie exercise and mulligan exercise applied cervical area three times a week for three weeks. We compared with pre-experiment and after 1~3 week through measuring the electromyography (EMG) change and neck range of motion (ROM). Results: The changes in the EMG at each exercise group, there was a statistically significant difference in each week. Although there was a significant difference after 1 week between the exercise group, the changes in the neck ROM at each exercise group there was no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: After experiment, EMG and neck ROM were increased in McKenzie exercise group and Mulligan exercise group. But Mulligan exercise group showed the change better than McKenzie exercise group in early stage. We suggest the Mulligan exercise method for recovering in early stage of neck ROM.