Comparison of immediate effects between two medical stretching techniques on Hamstrings flexibility.
Thanda Aye, Tsugumi Kuramoto-Ahuja, Heonsoo Han and 1 others
PMID 28931979WHAT IT FOUND
Both self-applied medical stretches improved finger-to-floor distance immediately in 13 healthy young men; the new stretch produced a larger immediate gain.
Key findings
01Finger-to-floor distance improved immediately after both stretches.
02The new stretch produced a significantly larger immediate increase in finger-to-floor distance than the conventional stretch.
03The average immediate increase was 6.73 cm after the new stretch and 5.02 cm after the conventional stretch.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 13 healthy young men took part, all with finger-to-floor distance below 0 cm, so the results may not apply to women, older adults, people with pain, or people with different baseline flexibility. There was no control group, so the study cannot show what would have happened without stretching. The study measured only the immediate effect after one session, not whether flexibility gains last or improve with repeated treatment. The participants performed self-stretching, so results may not apply to therapist-assisted stretching.
Declared interests
No conflict of interest was declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the larger immediate gain after the new stretch as proven superiority for patients. The main effect of treatment was not significant, there was no control group, and the study included only 13 healthy young men.