Injury prevention effects of stretching exercise intervention by physical therapists in male high school soccer players.

We aimed to examine the prevalence of injury after physical therapy intervention for muscle tightness and injury prevention in male high school soccer players. A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Participants comprised 124 players from two high schools who competed in national tournament soccer games held from April 2018 to March 2019. Players were randomly divided into intervention (with a 12-week stretching intervention by physical therapists) and control groups (without the intervention). Players and coaches provided written information regarding injuries and daily training and match times; physical therapists visited each team weekly to collect data and review documentation. Muscle tightness and injury incidence, number, type, location, circumstances, situations, severity, and contents during the 12-week intervention period and a subsequent 40-week observation period were compared between groups. Injuries were significantly lower with intervention during the 40-week observation period (P < .01) but not during the 12-week intervention period (P = .44). Injury types mainly included disorder, non-contact, lower-limb/trunk, and muscle/tendon injuries. Significant interactions were observed for all tightness-test measurement items. The intervention group showed significant improvements in heel-buttock distance, and straight leg-raise and hip rotation angles (pre-intervention < 12 weeks < 52 weeks), as well as significant improvements in ankle dorsiflexion angles at 12 and 52 weeks (relative to pre-intervention values). Instructed stretching exercises, personally designed by physical therapists to address muscle tightness, improved the range of motion and trunk flexibility, with a positive effect on the injury rate in male high school soccer players, especially for non-contact disorder injuries during training.

Contributions of Muscle Elasticity and Lateral Slide of the Transversus Abdominis to Lumbar Stability.

CONTEXT: Lumbar instability can cause lumbar spondylolisthesis and chronic low-back pain in sports situation. Abdominal hollowing is commonly used in clinical practice to preferentially target the transversus abdominis (TrA) to stabilize the lumbar vertebrae; however, the contribution of muscle elasticity and lateral slide of the TrA to lumbar stability has not yet been clarified. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the contribution of elasticity and lateral slide of the TrA to lumbar stability and to identify an effective exercise to stabilize the lumbar vertebrae. DESIGN: Experimental study. SETTING: Laboratory. PATIENTS: A total of 29 healthy males participated in this study. INTERVENTIONS: The participants performed hollowing during measurement of muscle elasticity of TrA and both knees extension from crook lying position for pelvic stability measurement. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lumbar stability, muscle elasticity change ratio, and lateral slide amount of TrA. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between elasticity of the TrA and lumbar stability; however, no relationship was observed between lateral slide and lumbar stability or elasticity of the TrA. CONCLUSION: Elasticity of the TrA and lumbar stability was significantly correlated; therefore, improving the tonicity of the TrA may stabilize the lumbar vertebrae in healthy individuals. Moreover, hollowing with maximum effort may be effective as training aimed to stabilize the lumbar vertebrae for physical dysfunction due to lumbar instability.

Injuries associated with Japanese high-school men's volleyball: a two-year survey and analysis.

[Purpose] There are many factors associated with sports injuries in volleyball that remain unclear; therefore, many of these injuries are still not being effectively prevented. This study aimed to help effectively prevent injuries among and provide conditioning guidance to participants of a high-school men's volleyball team. [Participants and Methods] The participants were 36 males of a high-school men's volleyball team, and the circumstances of injury occurrence, injury type, injury site, exposure time, and injury rate per 1,000 player-hours were evaluated among these participants. [Results] Over the 2 year period, 68 injuries occurred, and the injury rate was 1.51/1,000 player-hours. Specifically, the injuries comprised 40 cases of trauma (58.8%) and 28 cases of disorders (41.2%). Additionally, injuries occurring during training tended to be disorders, and injuries occurring during matches tended to be traumas. The most common site of injury was the ankle joint. [Conclusion] The results suggest that it is important for players to have appropriate knowledge about the injuries, acquire accurate form, and undergo various types of site-specific training in order to prevent injury. In the future, the causes and circumstances of occurrence of injury must be verified in a larger number of participants.

Effects of second-generation histamine H1 receptor antagonists on the sleep-wakefulness cycle in rats.

The present study was performed to examine the sedative effects of second-generation histamine H(1) receptor antagonist using power spectrum analysis in the rat. Similar to ketotifen, olopatadine caused a decrease in sleep latency at a dose of 50 mg/kg, while epinastine and cetirizine showed no significant effect even at a dose of 50 mg/kg. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed in the total times of wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep by any drugs used in the experiments. The number of sleep phases and interval between sleep phases were also unchanged by these drugs. Ketotifen and olopatadine inhibited [(3)H]mepyramine binding to rat brain homogenates in parallel with a decrease in sleep latency. No significant effect was observed with epinastine and cetirizine on [(3)H]mepyramine binding. These findings suggest that the differences in the central nervous system (CNS) depressant effect observed in second generation H(1) receptor antagonists may be due to their liability to penetrate into the CNS.