OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of a spinal (suboccipital) stretching technique and a peripheral stretching technique.
DESIGN: Clinical cohort study.
SETTING: Macquarie University Centre for Chiropractic Outpatient Clinic.
METHOD: A reliable hand-held dynamometer was used to determine the end point of range of motion (ROM) before and after the application of a treatment. Three groups of subjects were treated: cervical stretch, hip stretch and sham/placebo. ROM of the hip in flexion (straight leg raise) was used as the independent variable.
SAMPLE: Sixty randomly allocated university students aged between 18 and 35 yr.
RESULTS: The two stretching treatments resulted in increased flexion ROM at the hip. Statistical analysis revealed that only the sub-occipital stretching procedure increased hip flexion ROM significantly.
CONCLUSION: Manual therapy of the neck may have a role to play in the treatment of extraspinal, lower-limb musculoskeletal conditions.
This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. Article only available in print.
