The acute effects of spinal manipulation on neuromuscular function in asymptomatic individuals: A preliminary study
Marco Cardinale1, Gennaro Boccia2, Tom Greenway3
1Aspire Academy, Doha, Qatar; Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, University College London, London, UK; University of Aberdeen, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.
Objectives:
To analyse the acute effects of spinal manipulation on neuromuscular function in asymptomatic individuals.
Design:
Randomised controlled, cross-over trial.
Settings:
Spinal manipulation (SM) is used as therapeutic modality for various neuromuscular disorders and also in sport with asymptomatic individuals to improve range of motion and/or facilitate motor control. Experimental evidence of its effectiveness is lacking.
Participants:
27 asymptomatic participants (15 males and 12 females) [age (mean ± standard deviation) 24 ± 3 years] were exposed to three separate treatments in random order: 1) Spinal Manipulation of the lumbar spine (MAN); 2) Stretching of the Lumbar spine (STR); 3) sham manipulation (SHA).
Main Outcome Measures:
Before (PRE), after (POST) and 15 min after (15_MIN) each treatment, the participants were asked to perform three tasks always in the same order: 1) force fluctuation task; 2) Modified Sörensen's test; 3) sit and reach. Surface EMG was recorded from Gastrocnemius medialis and Erector Spinae muscles using linear arrays during task 1 and 2.
Results:
MAN was not shown to determine improvements superior to other treatments in the control of force output and sEMG parameters.
Conclusions:
Studies with larger populations are needed in order to ascertain the effectiveness of SM on neuromuscular function.
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