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A study of two stretching techniques for improving hip flexion range of motion
1Centre for Chiropractic, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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.