Research and News
Archive for July, 2011
Academy’s Solien-Wolfe enters massage Hall of Fame
Jul 28th
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On Saturday, July 16, 2011, The World Massage Festival honored 26 new inductees into the World Massage Therapy Hall of Fame, including our own Director of Education for Massage, Lynda Solien-Wolfe. The Massage Therapy Hall of Fame was created to honor those that have furthered the profession. The induction ceremony was held immediately following the World Massage Festival in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
Lynda has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 1994. She graduated from the Space Coast Massage Institute in 1993. Lynda is a Facial Specialist and has studied and trained in many additional areas since getting her massage license: Pregnancy Massage, Medical Massage, Sports Massage, and Spa therapies. Lynda specializes in Stress relieving Massage, Medical Massage to treat pain and illnesses such as Diabetes, Golfers massage and spa therapies.
Lynda is also a business development consultant, specializing in the massage therapy, spa and integrated healthcare markets. She has traveled the world for the past decade passionately spreading the message about the health benefits of massage therapy. Her travels have taken her across the United States of America, to Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada More >
“Tyler Twist” Exercise with Thera-Band® FlexBar® for Tennis Elbow on NPR
Jul 27th
The popular Tyler Twist exercise for tennis elbow with the FlexBar was recently featured in a story on National Public Radio (NPR). Reporter Allison Aubrey featured physical therapist Barton Bishop at Sport and Spine Rehab in Rockville, Maryland instructing a patient in the exercise. In the interview, Dr. Bishop helped demonstrate the exercise with his patient, Larry Holzman, who is having a successful rehabilitation with the FlexBar exercise. Link to the story, “A Rubber Twist on Treating Tennis Elbow Pain” here. The webpage includes a link to a video demonstration featuring Holzman and Dr. Bishop. You can also listen to the interview from NPR here.
Researchers at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (NISMAT) at LenoxHillHospitalin New Yorkpublished an article in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery showing that the Tyler Twist is effective at significantly reducing pain and increasing strength in patients with tennis elbow. Tim Tyler, president of the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Sports Physical Therapy Section was the lead author of the study. The Thera-Band FlexBar was recently endorsed by the APTA.
The results of the study were first released in July, 2009. Since then, many media outlets have featured the story, including the New York Times and Readers Digest. More >
Thera-Band exercise program helps reduce knee pain
Jul 3rd
Patellofemoral pain syndrome results in chronic anterior knee pain, and is often associated with delayed and reduced activation of the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) muscle. Therapeutic exercise is often prescribed to help improve the strength and onset timing of the VMO. Patellar taping is also used in managing anterior knee pain, and is often worn by the patient throughout the day.
Researchers in Turkey wanted to see if an exercise program for patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome could be effective with shorter tape application times (tape worn only during exercise sessions versus worn all day long). First, they compared the VMO muscle activation of 12 men with patellofemoral pain syndrome to 16 healthy controls. The patient group had significantly slower activation of the VMO compared to the control group, as well as significantly reduced strength and activation levels of the affected side compared to the unaffected side.
The 3 month home exercise program for patellofemoral pain syndrome used patellar taping only while exercises were performed, 3 times per day for 30 minutes per session. The progressive exercise program used Thera-Band® Exercise Bands and Stability Trainers. After the exercise program, the patellofemoral patients normalized their VMO activation timing and strength to symmetrical levels that were the same More >
Systematic review supports balance training
Jul 1st
Balance training using unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band Stability Trainers and Rocker / Wobble Boards continue to increase in popularity both in rehabilitation and sports performance. In addition, balance training has been shown to be beneficial in preventing injuries across the lifespan, from athletes to older adults.
German researchers published a systematic review of the efficacy of balance training for neuromuscular control and performance enhancement in the Journal of Athletic Training. 20 randomized clinical trials of balance training met their inclusion criteria for the review. As with many systematic reviews, the authors noted a lack of methodological quality and conflicting findings between studies. Nonetheless, they were able to make some conclusions:
- Balance training is effective at improving static postural sway and dynamic balance in both athletes and non-athletes.
- Balance exercises are recommended for postural and neuromuscular improvements, particularly for rehabilitation and preventive purposes.
- To improve strength, jumping or sports performance other interventions such as strength training are more effective than balance training.
- Longer balance training durations of 6 to 12 weeks seem more effective than shorter (4 week) durations.
The authors concluded that further research with higher methodological quality is needed to establish the efficacy and dose-response of balance training for functional performance.
