• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.75-88
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• 2020

Purpose : Dysmenorrhea can be caused by misalignment of the pelvis. Since pilates stabilization exercise is a methods that affects pelvic alignment by inducing contraction of abdominal muscles, the purpose of this study is to determine whether dysmenorrhea is reduced when pilates stabilization exercise is applied. Methods : 47 dysmenorrhea patients were randomly divided into experimental (n=23) and control (n=24) groups. The experimental group performed pilates stabilization exercise three times a week for 12 weeks, and the control group did not perform any intervention. Abdominal muscle thickness, lumbar pelvic alignment, and dysmenorrhea were measured before intervention, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks after intervention to determine the mean change over time and the effect of group and factor interactions (repeated measured ANOVA and contrast test for each period). Results : In the experimental group, the thickness of the transverse abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique muscles were increased significantly by group and period (p<.05). The pelvic torsion, lordosis and dysmenorrhea were also significantly decreased by group and period. But the control group did not change significantly in any of the variables. Conclusion : Applying pilates stabilization exercise to women with dysmenorrhea may be an effective intervention that contributes to relieving dysmenorrhea by correcting the stability and alignment of the lumbar pelvis.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.2102-2106
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• 2020

Background: Static hamstring stretching exercises have been widely used to improve flexibility of the hamstring muscles. However, few studies have examined the influence of standing static hamstring stretching (e.g., jack-knife stretching) on movements of the lumbopelvic-hip complex. Objectives: To examine the short-term effects of jack-knife stretching on movements of the lumbopelvic-hip complex. Design: Case series. Methods: Fourteen participants with hamstring tightness (8 male, 6 female) were recruited. Participants performed jack-knife stretching for 150 s. Before and after stretching, participants performed the finger-to-floor distance (FFD), sit and reach (SRT), active knee extension (AKE), passive straight leg raising (PSLA), and active straight leg raising (ASLR) tests as well as pelvic tilt while standing to identify the effects of stretching. Results: There were significant improvements in the FFD, SRT, AKE, PSLA, and ASLR tests after stretching. However, pelvic tilt angle while standing did not significantly change. Conclusion: Jack-knife stretching can be a useful exercise to improve flexibility of the hamstring muscles, but not pelvic alignment while standing.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.16-23
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• 2019

Background: High-heeled shoes can change spinal alignment and feet movement, which leads to muscle fatigue and discomfort in lumbopelvic region, legs, and feet while walking. Objects: This study aimed to identify the effects of different shoe heel heights on the walking velocity and electromyographic (EMG) activities of the lower leg muscles during short- and long-distance walking in young females. Methods: Fifteen young females were recruited in this study. The experiments were performed with the following two different shoe heel heights: 0 cm and 7 cm. All participants underwent an electromyographic procedure to measure the activities and fatigue levels of the tibialis anterior (TA), medial gastrocnemius (MG), rectus femoris (RF), and hamstring muscles with each heel height during both short- and long-distance walking. The walking velocities were measured using the short-distance (10-m walk) and long-distance (6-min walk) walking tests. Results: Significant interaction effects were found between heel height and walking distance conditions for the EMG activities and fatigue levels of TA and MG muscles, and walking velocity (p<.05). The walking velocity and activities of the TA, MG, and RF muscles appeared to be significantly different between the 0 cm and 7 cm heel heights during both short- and long-distance walking (p<.05). Significant difference in the fatigue level of the MG muscle were found between the 0 cm and 7 cm heel heights during long-distance walking. In addition, walking velocity and the fatigue level of the MG muscle at the 7 cm heel height revealed significant differences in the comparison of short- and long-distance walking (p<.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that higher shoe heel height leads to a decrease in the walking velocity and an increase in the activity and fatigue level of the lower leg muscles, particularly during long-distance walking.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.224-230
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of height of the shoe heel in a one leg standing posture on the muscle activity of the rectus abdominis, erector spinae, hamstring, and rectus femoris. Twenty healthy female subjects were asked to perform a one leg standing posture with three types of shoes, which had different heights of shoe heel, 0cm, 3cm, and 7cm. Surface electromyography was used to evaluate the activities of the right rectus abdominis, erector spinae, hamstring, and rectus femoris muscles. The data was analyzed by repeated one-way ANOVA and the muscle activities among three heights of shoe heel were compared. The results showed that the muscle activities of the erector spinae and rectus femoris increased significantly according to increase height of shoe heel (p<0.05). The activity of the rectus abdominis and hamstring were not significantly different among the three height of shoe heel (p>0.05). These results suggest that the height of shoe heel affects the lumbo-pelvic alignment and center of mass; therefore, high-heeled shoes lead to musculoskeletal pain in the lumbopelvic, hip, and knee areas.