HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mason, C. R Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mason, C. R Related Collections Related Articles Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

One Method for Assessing the Effectiveness of Fast Brushing

Miss Mason conducted the study as a graduate student at Emory University. She is currently an Instructor at Texas Woman's University School of Physical Therapy, 1130 M. D. Anderson Blvd, Houston, TX 77030 (USA). This study was supported in part by Research Grant No. G008003042, Department of Education, Office of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.

The purposes of this study were to determine if fast brushing of the skin overlying a muscle is effective in increasing the sensitivity of the stretch reflex of that muscle and to detect the optimal rate and duration of brushing to elicit this effect in healthy adults. The stretch sensitivity of the right lateral gastrocnemius muscle was measured by EMG activity and force produced by the abrupt tap of the Achilles tendon before and after fast brushing. Peak-to-peak EMG and force from 10 taps were established. Eight different conditions (two control and six experimental brushing) were applied to 10 healthy adult subjects (age range, 30 to 46 years). The experimental conditions included rotary brushing at 5 Hz, 180 Hz, or 360 Hz for 5 seconds or at 5 Hz, 180 Hz, or 360 Hz for 30 seconds. Postbrushing taps began 30 seconds after the brush was turned off and continued every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. This method of fast brushing did not increase the stretch sensitivity of the muscle in healthy adults. Possible factors influencing the results of the study and recommendations for future studies are presented.

Key Words: Muscles • Physical therapy • Reflex, stretch

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Related Articles

A Brushup on Rood's Technique

A Jerome Nielsen, Sharon Grady, Carrie Sussman, Marion Henry, Charlotte Feichtmann, Mike Dodge, Yvette Pigeon, and Carolyn R Mason
Physical Therapy 1986 66: 579-580. [Abstract] [PDF]