Acute Effects of Tissue Flossing Coupled with Functional Movements on Knee Range of Motion, Static Balance, in Single-Leg Hop Distance, and Landing Stabilization Performance in Female College Students.

Szu-Ying Wu,Nai-Jen Chang,Wen-Dien Chang,Yu-Ting Wang,Yi-Hsun Tsai,Chia-Lun Lee,Chun-En Aurea Kuo

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031427

Abstract

Flexibility, specifically that in the amplitude of sagittal-plane range of motion (ROM), can improve jump landing patterns and reduce the potential for sports injury. The use of floss bands (FLOSS) reportedly increases joint range of motion (ROM) in the shoulder, ankle, and elbow joints. However, little research on the effectiveness of FLOSS on the knee joint has been conducted. This study investigated the effects of FLOSS on knee ROM, static balance, single-leg-hop distance, and landing stabilization performance in women. This study had a crossover design. Twenty active female college students without musculoskeletal disorders were randomly assigned to receive a FLOSS intervention or elastic bandage (ELA) control on their dominant knees. The participants underwent FLOSS and ELA activities on two occasions with 48 h of rest between both sets of activities. The outcomes were flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstrings, how long one could maintain a single-leg stance (with and without eyes closed), distance on a single-leg triple hop, and score on the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS); these outcomes were evaluated at preintervention and postintervention (immediately following band removal and 20 min later). After the FLOSS intervention, the participants’ hamstring flexibility improved significantly (immediately after: p = 0.001; 20 min later: p = 0.002), but their quadricep flexibility did not. In addition, FLOSS use did not result in worse single-leg stance timing, single-leg triple-hop distance, or landing stabilization performance relative to ELA use. Compared with the ELA control, the FLOSS intervention yielded significantly better LESS at 20 min postintervention (p = 0.032), suggesting that tissue flossing can improve landing stability. In conclusion, the application of FLOSS to the knee improves hamstring flexibility without impeding static balance, and improves single-leg hop distance and landing stabilization performance in women for up to 20 min. Our findings elucidate the effects of tissue flossing on the knee joint and may serve as a reference for physiotherapists or athletic professionals in athletic practice settings.

Highlights

The knee joint plays a key role in lower-limb biomechanics and is the joint most commonly affected in sports-related injuries of the lower limbs; such injuries are often linked to disabilities of the hip and ankle joints [1]
The improvement at 20 min postintervention (F = 5.325, p = 0.032) was significantly higher in the floss bands (FLOSS) group than in the elastic bandage (ELA) group, which suggests that the participants exhibited better landing stability at 20 min postintervention after tissue flossing than after application of the ELA. This is the first study to explore the acute effects of FLOSS on knee range of motion (ROM), static balance, single-leg hop distance, and landing stabilization performance
The results of our study indicated that after receiving a FLOSS applied to the knee joint, the participants exhibited significantly higher hamstring flexibility for up to 20 min

Summary

Introduction

The knee joint plays a key role in lower-limb biomechanics and is the joint most commonly affected in sports-related injuries of the lower limbs; such injuries are often linked to disabilities of the hip and ankle joints [1]. Knee joint injuries frequently lead to complicated musculoskeletal problems and affect sports performance. Kaeding et al reported that knee injuries in high school athletes account for 60% of sports-related surgeries [2]. A US study on high-school sports-related injuries that analyzed data from the National High. School Sports Related Injury Surveillance System reported an overall rate of 2.98 knee injuries per 10,000 athlete exposures [3]. Among the sports-related injuries analyzed in a. 10-year study by Majewski et al, 39.8% were related to the knee joint [4]. The reasons for the higher rate of knee injuries in women are postulated [5,6]: (1) internal factors such as differences in the anatomical configuration (e.g., higher Q angle), knee ligament, ligament laxity and muscle strength and (2) external factors, such as conditioning, type of training and the development of muscle coordination

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion