• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.279-286
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to compare the electromyographic(EMG) activities of trunk and hip muscles between right and left sides while subjects performed prolonged manual task in asymmetric and symmetric weight-bearing posture. Fifteen healthy male college students were recruited for this study. The subjects were asked to perform bimanual upper extremity task for 6 minutes in two different standing postures. In the symmetric weight-bearing posture, the subjects were standing with evenly distributed body weights to both legs. In the asymmetric weight-bearing posture, the subjects distributed about 90% of their body weight onto their preferred(supporting) leg and 10% of their body weight onto the opposite leg while they were standing. EMG activities of the right and left internal oblique, erector spinae, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius were measured and normalized as % MVIC. Then the EMG data were statistically analyzed using paired t-tests. The EMG activities of all measured muscles were not significantly different between the right and left side in the symmetrical weight-bearing posture(p>0.05). However, the EMG of the supporting side internal oblique was significantly lower than the opposite side(p<0.05), and the EMG of the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius were significantly greater on the supporting side(p<0.05). The results of this study support that unbalanced use of right and left muscle possibly causes the changes in muscle length which results in asymmetry of trunk and hip muscles. Furthermore, the uneven weight support onto right and left legs will cause a distortion of viscoelastic ligaments around hip and sacroiliac joints in the long run. Further studies to determine the effect of various manual tasks on the trunk and hip muscles as well as the effect of asymmetrical weight-bearing standing posture on hip and back muscle fatigue may be required.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

Background: The purpose of this study was to systematic review the effect of exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients. We needs systematic development of low back pain exercise program to reduce economic cost further doing great service to public health promotion. Methods: We searched to the effects of exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients by Dankook University electronic library databases of DBPIA, KSI KISS, CINAHL, MEDLINE and PEDro combined with a hand search of papers published in relevant journals. Any type of study relevant to the topic published during time period from 1970 to 2007 was included. Results: The literature search identified 30 studies. 1.Performing the flexion exercise increased abdominal muscle activity but acute herniated intervertebral disc should be avoided. 2.The general lumbar extension exercise used lumbar extension machine and the muscle power increases, significant probability the change. 3.The spinal segments exercise for the patients offered significant efficacy and appeared to be a reasonable therapeutic option. 4.Spinal stabilization exercises appear to improve trunk endurance and balance to patients with chronic low back pain. This exercise programs had effective decrease pain and disability. Conclusion: The review suggests that although the exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients, and we expected the efficacy of the exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients used in this study should be further investigated in a long period study and objective outcomes.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.476-481
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on skin temperature, pain, muscle tone, and ROM after applying the massage robot "PIRO-ZERO" to 6 men and 4 women in their 20s who complained of non-specific pain in the shoulder or back for more than 12 weeks. As a result of the study, there was a significant increase in skin temperature not only in the area where the massage was applied, but also on the opposite side and throughout the body due to increased blood flow. Pain in the upper trapezius, rhomboid, and erector spinae muscle was decreased, and muscle tone in the erector spinae muscles was significantly decreased. There was a significant increase in ROM of neck and trunk flexion, which is thought to be because the massage reduced muscle tone around the spine, increasing flexibility. In the future, as the safety and effectiveness of massage robots are further verified and the pressure, speed, and path become more diverse, satisfaction is expected to increase.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.43-51
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• 2015

Purpose : This study examines the effect of trunk stabilization program on the body balance, lung capacity, and muscular activity of the rectus abdominis and external oblique of healthy adults. Method : A survey was conducted for 20 students of K University located in the city of Y in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province of Korea. The trunk stabilization program consisted of a hollowing exercise, curl-up, bridging exercise, and birddog exercise. This was performed 14 times in total (7 times a week for two weeks). For analysis, good balance was used to measure both static and dynamic balancing ability. A peak flow meter was used to measure the maximum expiratory flow, and MP150 was used to measure muscular activity of the rectus abdominis and external oblique. Result : After the trunk stabilization program, the participants showed a difference in score and time taken to achieve static and dynamic balance, and muscular activity of the rectus abdominis and external oblique at a statistically significant level (p<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the left-to-right distance and front-to-back distance in a dynamic balance, and the lung capacity (p>0.05). Conclusion : The results showed that the trunk stabilization program was effective in enhancing both static and dynamic balancing ability and muscular activity. It also increased the lung capacity although the change was not at a statistically significant level.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to the effects of stretching on lumbar flexibility after lumbar and lower muscle strengthening exercise. Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Methods: 24 subjects without back pain in their twenties were divided into 12 experimental groups and 12 control groups. The experimental group performed a stretching program after muscle strength exercise. In the control group, only muscle strength exercise was performed, and total exercise was performed 24 times a week for 8 weeks to compare and analyze before and after experiment. Results: The results of this study are as follows: 1) There was no statistically significant difference in both before and after weight of experimental group and control group. 2) There was no statistically significant difference in both before and after skeletal muscle levels of experimental group and control group. 3) There was no statistically significant difference in both before and after fat mass of experimental group and control group. 4) There was a statistically significant difference in both before and after trunk forward flexion of experimental group and control group. Conclusion: This research showed a positive affect on increasing flexibility, which is expected to have a great effect on improvement of flexibility in the future.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2024

Background: For instance, forward head posture (FHP), characterized by the forward movement of the head relative to the spine, places significant stress on the neck and upper back muscles, disrupting the biomechanical balance of the body. Objects: The objective of this study was to probe the biomechanical effects of FHP on musculoskeletal health through a relative analysis of 26 adults diagnosed with FHP and 26 healthy controls. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the biomechanical impacts of FHP. Participants adjusted their head positions and underwent muscle strength tests, including electromyography assessments and the Biering-Sørensen test for trunk muscle endurance. Data analysis was conducted using Kinovea (Kinovea) and IBM SPSS software ver. 26.0 (IBM Co.) to compare muscle activities between groups with normal and FHPs. Results: The study shows that individuals with FHP have significantly lower muscle activity, endurance, and spinal extension in the erector spinae compared to those without, highlighting the detrimental effects of FHP on these muscles. Conclusion: This study underscores the impact of FHP on erector spinae function and emphasizes the need for posture correction to enhance musculoskeletal health and guide future research on intervention strategies.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2021

In this study, we investigated the effects of five EMS lumbar back pressure belts produced on an anatomical basis on lumbar spine stabilization. Five core muscles were selected, including the urinal, vertebral column, endotracheal, external abdominal, and large back muscles, and patterns were designed using a conductive fabric considering the appropriate muscle shape and pain-causing points. We experimented with four motions to examine the effects of different EMS abdominal compression belts on lumbar spine stabilization. Five healthy men in their 20s were selected. The selection conditions include no back pain history for the past three months, no restricted movements through pre-inspection, and the muscular strength of the body should belong to the normal grade. Using SLR, the sequence of experimental actions was chosen from the following but not limited to left-hand, body-hand, and back-line forces. Resting between movements lasted for 2 min, and the experiments were conducted after wearing the EMS abdominal pressure belt. Electrical stimulation was applied for 10 min to increase blood flow and muscle activation. The statistics of the experimental results were analyzed for specific differences by conducting the Wilcoxon and Friedman tests with nonparametric tests. The ranking results of each pattern were successfully assessed in the order of 5, 4, 3, 1, 2 for the five patterns, and we could identify slightly more significant results for experimental behavior associated with each muscle movement. Patterns produced based on anatomy showed differentiated effects when electric stimulation was applied to each muscle in different shapes, which could improve the stabilization of the lumbar spine in everyday life or training to the public. Based on these results, subsequent research would focus on developing smart healthcare clothing that is practical in daily life by employing different anatomical mechanisms, depending on the back pain, to utilize trunk-type tights.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-76
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• 2003

This research was performed to compare spinal segment motion angle between low back pain (LBP) group and painless group during trunk flexion-extension and to investigate the effect of transversus abdominis strengthening exercise on spinal segment motion angle in LBP group. Nine subjects with LBP and ten subjects without LBP participated. Transversus abdominis strengthening exercise was performed in LBP group for three weeks, and spinal segment motion angles were compared before and after the exercise performance. Spinal segment motion angles were measured both in sitting and standing position. Results were as followed: 1) Subjects' average age was 24.79 years, height was 167.84 cm, and weight was 59.95 kg. 2) Spinal segment motion angle of T10/l1 was significantly higher in LBP group compared with painless group (p<.05) in sitting position during trunk flexion-extension. 3) In sitting position, whereas entire lumbar segment motion angles were lower in LBP group compared with painless group (p<.05), angle of L4/5 was higher in LBP group compared with painless group (p<.05). 4) There was no significant difference in thoracic segment motion angle in standing position. 5) After three weeks of transversus abdominis strengthening exercise, thoracic segment motion angle increased both in sitting and standing position (p<.05). 6) In painless group, there was no significant difference in entire spinal segment motion angles in sitting and standing position (p>.05). When spinal segment motion angles were compared between sitting and standing position, there were slight differences. In sitting position, there was no difference in spinal segment motion angle between LBP group and painless group while hip joint motion angle and sacral inclination angle of LBP group was lower than those of painless group (p<.05). In standing position, lumbar segment motion angle was significantly lower in LBP group than that of painless group. Transversus abdominis strengthening exercise influenced thoracic segment motion angle more significantly than lumbar segment motion angle.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.297-309
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• 1998

Numerical parameters have been developed to diagnose L4/L5 disc patients during repetitive flexions and extensions. Electromyography(EMG) has been used to define the muscle excitation and movement cycle in this study. Twenty healthy subjects and twenty L4/L5 disc patients were recruited for the experiment. The subjective pain levels of patients were recorded as $3.7{\pm}1.6$ according to visual analogue scale where 10 was the maximum pain level. Variance ratio of motion cycle was suggested as a new parameter to examine the consistency of the trunk movement. The results indicated that the temporal EMG pattern such as peak time difference between Quadriceps and Hamstrings, the duration of coexcitation between Erector spinae and Rectus abdominis muscle pairs showed a statistically significant difference between healthy subjects and patients. Variance ratio of External oblique and Internal oblique also showed a statistically significant difference. It is expected that those results could be used for diagnosis by building a database for various back pain patients and healthy subjects. This method can eventually help physicians for early diagnosis and prevention of low back disorders.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.17-27
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• 2018

Background: This study investigated the effects of pelvic floor stabilization exercise of pain, disfunction, psychosocial, electromyography (EMG) activity on the lower back pain with postpartum. Methods: The study included 20 postpartum women who were randomly assigned to a sling exercise group (SEG, n=10) or a general physical therapy group (GPTG, n=10). Outcomes were assessed using to lower back pain with postpartum the quadruple visual analogue scale (QVAS), the Korean version of the Oswestry disability index (KODI), the fear avoidance belief questionnaire (FABQ), the inventory of functional status after childbirth (IFSAC), the edinburgh postnatal depression scale-Korean (EPDS-K), and trunk muscle activity before and after a 4-week exercise intervention. Statistical analysis were performed using a mean, standard deviation, crosstab test, paired t-test, independent t-test. Kolmogorove-Smirnov test was used for test of normality. Results: Compared to the GPTG, the SEG showed significant improvement in the QVAS, KODI, FABQ, IFSAC, and EPDK-K scores (p<.05) after 4 weeks. Conclusion: Postpartum pelvic strengthening exercise proved to have a positive effect.