Research and News
Archive for July, 2009
Guidelines for treating neck pain with Thera-Band Tubing
Jul 22nd
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An interdisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians reviewed 11 systematic research reviews to develop a ‘toolkit’ for clinicians to apply the best evidence for treating neck pain. The “Cervical Overview Group” created a clinical practice guideline that includes a therapeutic home exercise program for neck pain. The full article was published in the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy in May, 2009. The 3-phase “Evidence-based Home Neck Care Program” includes the use of elastic tubing as an integral part of the home program.
Visit the Thera-Band Academy Neck/Cervical Spine resource center to find more articles and exercises for neck pain.
Thera-Band exercises help cancer recovery
Jul 22nd
As cancer survival rates increase, older adults are living longer, but often at a lower functional level after cancer treatments. Researchers at Duke University combined home-based Thera-Band exercises for cancer survivors with dietary information in a 12-month program using telephone counseling and mailed print material. The randomized, controlled clinical trial included 641 survivors of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer between 65 and 91 years old. The results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), showed that cancer surviors participating in the exercise and diet program had less functional decline than the control group not receiving the program. The program participants also significantly improved in lower extremity function, physical activity level, dietary behavior, quality of life, and lost nearly twice as much weight as the control group. The “RENEW” (Reach out to Enhance Wellness) study was supported by Thera-Band Academy for several years.
Stability ball: fitness jack of all trades (Reuters)
Jul 22nd
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Call them Swiss balls, Pilates balls, physio balls, exercise balls, balance balls, yoga balls or body balls.
Stability balls by any other name would still be the same hardworking multi-taskers of the fitness world.
“They can be used for balance training, for core training, with or without weights and for resistance training,” Dr. Christina A. Geithner, of the American College of Sports Medicine, said of those big, colorful spheres that brighten the corners of workout rooms everywhere.
Exercise with FlexBar may help treat tennis elbow
Jul 14th
KEYSTONE, CO – People with pain in the elbow or forearm from playing sports or just from common everyday activities, might be able to use a Thera-Band FlexBar and strengthening exercise to alleviate pain, say researchers who are presenting their study results at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado, July 9th-12th.
Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a common condition effecting nearly three percent of the general population, not just those who play tennis. “Our study illustrated that a novel exercise, using an inexpensive rubber bar, may provide a practical and effective means of adding isolated wrist strengthening exercises to a treatment plan,” said lead author Timothy F. Tyler, PT, ATC, Clinical Research Associate, of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma in New York City.
The study randomized 21 patients with tennis elbow into two groups. Both received the wrist extensor stretching, ultrasound, cross-friction massage, heat and ice for treatment. The eccentric training group performed isolated eccentric wrist extensor strengthening using the rubber FlexBar (Thera-Band, Akron OH) while the standard treatment group performed isotonic wrist strengthening exercises. Three sets of 15 repetitions were performed daily as part of a home program with intensity increased More >
Elastic resistance improves function in older adults
Jul 9th
An article recently published by USAToday about a Cochrane review of research on improving function in older adults with resistance training noted that elastic resistance bands are effective:
“In a review of 121 clinical trials that looked at weight-lifting in people over age 60, researchers led by Chiung-ju Liu of Indiana University at Indianapolis, conclude that weight lifting two to three times a week makes everyday tasks easier for the elderly.
“Older adults seem to benefit from this type of exercise even at the age of 80, and even with some type of health condition,” Liu says, in a statement. “The data support the idea that muscle strength is largely improved after the training, and the impact on older adults’ daily activities can be significant.”
Free weights, exercise machines or elastic “resistance” bands (their weight adjusted to the progress of the study participants) all showed benefits. They included “large improvement” in strength and “moderate to large improvement” in tasks such as climbing stairs, according to the study the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.”
Read the Cochrane review here.
