Effect of Sitting Pause Times on Balance After Supine to Standing Transfer in Dim Light.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The risk of falling for older adults increases in dimly lit environments. Longer sitting pause times, before getting out of bed and standing during the night, may improve postural stability. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of sitting pause times on postural sway velocity immediately after a supine to standing transfer in a dimly lit room in older adult women. METHODS: Eighteen healthy women aged 65 to 75 years who were able to independently perform supine to standing transfers participated in the study. On each of 2 consecutive days, participants assumed the supine position on a mat table and closed their eyes for 45 minutes. Then, participants were instructed to open their eyes and transfer from supine to sitting, with either 2- or 30-second pause in the sitting position followed by standing. The sitting pause time order was randomized. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed in postural sway velocity between the 2- and 30-second sitting pause times. The results revealed that there was less postural sway velocity after 30-second than 2-second sitting pause time (0.61 ± 0.19 vs 1.22 ± 0.68, P < .001). DISCUSSION: Falls related to bathroom usage at night are the most common reported falls among older adults. In the present study, the investigators studied the effect of sitting pause times on postural sway velocity after changing position from supine to standing in a dimly lit environment. The findings showed that the mean postural sway velocity was significantly less after 30-second sitting pause time compared with 2-second sitting pause time. CONCLUSIONS: Postural sway velocity decreased when participants performed a sitting pause of 30 seconds before standing in a dimly lit environment. These results suggest that longer sitting pause times may improve adaptability to dimly lit environments, contributing to improved postural stability and reduced risk of fall in older adult women when getting out of bed at night.

Cold Vs. Heat After Exercise-Is There a Clear Winner for Muscle Soreness.

Because of the differences in the exercise type, temperature, and timing of the use of cold and heat after exercise in different studies, there is no clear conclusion as to the efficacy of either modality on reducing delayed onset muscle soreness. One hundred subjects at similar fitness levels were examined. They accomplished leg squats for 15 minutes and heat and cold were applied after or 24 hours after exercise using ThermaCare heat or cold wraps. Measurements obtained were strength, the force to passively move the knee, analog visual pain scales, and blood myoglobin. Control subjects lost 24% strength after exercise. Subjects with heat or cold just after exercise only lost 4% strength (p < 0.01). For strength recovery, cold applied after 24 hours was better than heat at 24 hours. Heat or cold applied after exercise was significantly better to prevent elastic tissue damage (p < 0.01), whereas heat and cold immediately after exercise caused no loss in muscle myoglobin and heat or cold after 24 hours showed no less muscle damage from myoglobin than in control subjects. Myoglobin in the control and heat and cold 24-hour groups averaged 135.1% of the baseline data but averaged 106.1% of baseline in the immediate heat and cold groups. For reducing pain, control subjects showed a significant amount of pain the days after exercise. But cold immediately after exercise or 24 hours later was superior to heat in reducing pain. In conclusion, both cold and heat appear to be efficacious in reducing muscle damage after exercise.

Short-term and long-term effects of electrical stimulation on skin properties.

BACKGROUND: Electrical stimulation (ES) has been used in treating different medical conditions; however, not much is known about the effect of this application on skin properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of ES on biophysical properties of the skin. METHODS: A pretest-posttest control design was used in the study. Thirteen men (N = 13, age (M ± SD), 19 ± 5.6 years) were free of skin abnormality on the volar aspect of both forearms. Four areas were allocated and marked with a layout template of two circles 2 cm in diameter and 2 cm apart. Areas 1 and 2 were allocated on the experimental forearm and area 3 and 4 on the control forearm. ES was applied for 15 minutes with two rubber electrodes 8 cm apart surrounding areas 1 and 2 on the experimental forearm three times a week for 2 weeks. Skin properties including transepidermal water loss (TEWL), melanin content, erythema, elasticity and pH were measured pre-ES, during ES and post-ES, and after 2 weeks of applying ES to find out the short-term and long-term effects on skin. RESULTS: The TEWL was increased during ES at 7, 15 and 15-minutes post-ES compared with the baseline (p < 0.01) and to the control forearm (p = 0.04) measurements, and no increase have been noticed of TEWL on the control forearm (p = 0.11). Also, we found no difference in the other skin properties (p > 0.05) on both forearms, and there were no long-term effects (p > 0.05) in any tested variable. CONCLUSION: Electrical stimulation caused temporary increase in TEWL with no effects on other skin properties.