Standard reference values of the upper body posture in healthy young female adults in Germany: an observational study.

OBJECTIVE: Classifications of posture deviations are only possible compared with standard values. However, standard values have been published for healthy male adults but not for female adults. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main. PARTICIPANTS: 106healthy female volunteers (21-30 years old; 25.1±2.7 years) were included. Their body weight ranged from 46 to 106 kg (60.3±7.9 kg), the heights from 1.53 to 1.82 m (1.69±0.06 m) and the body mass index from 16.9 kg/m² to 37.6 kg/m² (21.1±2.6 kg/m²). OUTCOME MEASURES: A three-dimensional back scan was performed to measure the upper back posture in habitual standing. The tolerance ranges and CI were calculated. Group differences were tested by the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: In normal posture, the spinal column was marginally twisted to the left, and the vertebrae were marginally rotated to the right. The kyphosis angle is larger than the lumbar angle. Consequently, a more kyphotic posture is observed in the sagittal plane. The habitual posture is slightly scoliotic with a rotational component (scapular depression right, right scapula marginally more dorsally, high state of pelvic right, iliac right further rotated anteriorly). CONCLUSIONS: Healthy young women have an almost ideally balanced posture with minimal ventral body inclination and a marginal scoliotic deviation. Compared with young males, women show only marginal differences in the upper body posture. These values allow a comparison to other studies, both for control and patient data, and may serve as guideline in both clinical practice and scientific studies.

Medical Infrared Thermography in back pain osteopathic management.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to provide proof-of-concept for the use of Medical Infrared Thermography to verify both diagnosis and osteopathic management accuracy in back pain. METHODS: A 50-year-old woman with acute back pain syndrome volunteered to participate in this study. RESULTS: Prior the treatment, thermal image reveals that in a sagittal plane, the inflammation extends from vertebra D8 to L3 with a maximum inflammation between vertebrae D10 to L1. Post-treatment, Medical Infrared Thermography only shows a slight inflammation along the lumbar furrow that does not induce pain in the patient. CONCLUSION: Medical Infrared Thermography has made it possible to scientifically support the osteopathic approach to back pain, both in the initial diagnostic phase and in the validation phase of treatment effectivess.

Do exercises with the Foam Roller have a short-term impact on the thoracolumbar fascia? - A randomized controlled trial.

Due to new research results in the past few years, interest in the fascia of the human body has increased. Dysfunctions of the fascia are indicated by various symptoms, amongst others, musculoskeletal pain. As a result stronger focus has been put on researching therapeutic approaches in this area. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Foam Roll exercises on the mobility of the thoracolumbar fascia (TLF). Study has been conducted in a randomized and controlled trial which sampled 38 healthy athletic active men and women. The subjects were randomly assigned to a Foam Roll Group (FMG), a Placebo Group (PG) and a Control Group (CG). Depending on the assigned group the volunteers were either instructed to do exercises with the Foam Roll, received a pseudo treatment with the Foam Roll or received no treatment. A total of three measurements were carried out. The most important field of research was the mobility of the TLF, which was determined using a sonographic assessment. In addition the lumbar flexion and the mechanosensivity of relevant muscles were determined. After the intervention, the FMG showed an average increase of 1.7915 mm for the mobility of the TLF (p < 0.001/d = 0.756). In contrast, only an average improvement of 0.1681 mm (p = 0.397) was shown in the PG, while the CG showed a slight improvement of 0.0139 mm (p = 0.861). However, no significant changes were observed with regard to the lumbar flexion and mechanosensivity of the treated muscles. Thus, evidence is that the use of Foam Roll exercises significantly improves the mobility of the thoracolumbar fascia in a healthy young population.

[Detecting the safety depth on human back loci by computer tomographic scanning].

The study was carried out at Tri-Service General Hospital and Mackay General Hospital. The sample population of patient was totally 120. According to their body weight and height, they were divided into six groups with various sizes, i.e. normal, over and under-weighted adults, followed by sex differences. After computer tomographic scanning results from patients' body back, the relative acupuncture loci should be measured through their anatomical position, then the distance between surface of body back and thoracic pleura could be defined as its safety depth. For each locus of the groups, the mean and its confident interval could be found. The analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, and multiple regression were also calculated by means of computer. The results showed that there were no significant differences on body back loci within sex differences, but for different body sizes, there appeared statistically significant differences for each locus, (P less than 0.01), so the safety depth for each back locus have actually been proved. Not only these data provided more useful information for clinical practices, but also our standard safety depth for each loci on back can then be established.