University of Michigan-Flint

Faculty Name:  Thomas Mark Ruediger

Department:  Physical Therapy

Campus Address:  2123 WSW

Email:  ruediger@umflint.edu

Phone:  810-618-1897

Project Description:  This study will investigate the effects of commonly employed stretching and conditioning exercises on heretofore untested measures.  This will be performed through recruitment, testing, and intervention on two groups of 30 healthy subjects from the UM Flint Community

Hamstring stretching is one of the most commonly used exercises to improve lower extremity flexibility for injury prevention.  In spite of this, very little evidence exists to support the efficacy of hamstring stretching in injury prevention.  The evidence that exists shows a very small effect size.

It has also been reported that the limiting factor for lower extremity flexibility in not hamstring tightness, but rather nerve tension.

Neural tension and hamstring tightness both manifest themselves as a "pulling" sensation in the back of the thigh.  Clinically, neural tension and hamstring can be differentiated from each other by the addition of an additional sensitizing maneuver.  Some of these sensitizers are: Forward bending of the back, forward bending of the neck, and dorsiflexion of the ankle.  None of these maneuvers put additional demand on the hamstring; if the subject has increased “pulling” in the back of the thigh, the sensation of "pulling" may be attributed to the nerve tension.

  It may be important to differentiate the source if restriction in lower extremity flexibility as the intervention to improve flexibility for restriction due to hamstring tightness may be different than one to improve flexibility for restriction due to nerve tension.  If a hamstring is tight, stretching helps improve flexibility.  If a nerve has tension, stretching has been suggested to be counterproductive; the effect of stretching may cause discomfort that manifests as a restriction in flexibility that once again may be attributed to hamstring tightness.  However, a comparison of the effect of neural mobilization as compared to hamstring stretching for improving measures of lower extremity flexibility has not been reported to our knowledge. 

The effect of tibial nerve mobilization on the H-reflex has not been reported to our knowledge.

Also, the effect of hamstring stretching on the tibial nerve on the H-reflex has not been reported to our knowledge.  It is also not known whether these interventions have any effect on balance.  Additionally, the effect of lumbar stabilization exercise on balance measures or flexibility is not known.

Semesters Desired:  Fall 2011 AND Winter 2012

GSRA Position Description:  GRSA will assist in subject recruitment and informed consent, data collection, analysis, and manuscript prparation.

Specific Day/Time Requirements:  These are negotiable but would generally be between 9 am and 4 pm from Monday through Friday to coincide with the presence of our population of interest.

Special Requirements:  PEERRS certification as Human Subjects researcher.

Strong desire to be involved in relevant performance research.

Graduate Students in These Programs May Apply:  Physical Therapy (DPT/Certificate)