Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Nov 2000
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialMechanical force spinal manipulation increases trunk muscle strength assessed by electromyography: a comparative clinical trial.
The objective of this study was to determine whether mechanical force, manually-assisted (MFMA) spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) affects paraspinal muscle strength as assessed through use of surface electromyography (sEMG). ⋯ The results of this preliminary clinical trial demonstrated that MFMA SMT results in a significant increase in sEMG erector spinae isometric MVC muscle output. These findings indicate that altered muscle function may be a potential short-term therapeutic effect of MFMA SMT, and they form a basis for a randomized, controlled clinical trial to further investigate acute and long-term changes in low back function.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Nov 2000
The effects of metronome breathing on the variability of autonomic activity measurements.
Many chiropractors hypothesize that spinal manipulation affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, the ANS responses to chiropractic manipulative therapy are not well documented, and more research is needed to support this hypothesis. This study represents a step toward the development of a reliable method by which to document that chiropractic manipulative therapy does affect the ANS by exploring the use of paced breathing as a way to reduce the inherent variability in ANS measurements. ⋯ Metronome breathing increased parasympathetic activity, as evidenced by augmented HF power in the ECG and SBP data. The variability (CV%) of ECG-determined ANS measurements was significantly reduced with paced breathing at 12 breaths/min, but no significant reductions were observed for the SBP-determined ANS measurements. These findings indicate that ECG data are more sensitive than SBP data for future clinical trials.