Hamstring Viscoelasticity and Low Back Pain

NCT05939609 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AtakanS
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent issue among adolescent rowers, particularly males aged 14 to 16 years, with a high lifetime prevalence (94%) and point prevalence (65%). One of the mechanisms of lower back pain in rowing athletes is about the elasticity, stiffness and tone of the hamstring muscle. Current literature shows that stretching exercises, strengthening exercises and kinesiotaping affects hamstring viscoelasticity in various ways. Stretching exercises affect hamstring muscle tone and elasticity, strengthening exercises affect muscle stiffness and kinesiotaping affects muscle tone. While the effects of each of these interventions on viscoelastic properties individually are examined in the literature, studies comparing the effects of changes in viscoelastic properties caused by these interventions on low back pain, athletic disability index and athletic performance in rowers and their superiority among each other are lacking. The goal of this study is to change the viscoelasticity of the hamstring muscles and examine its effect on low back pain, disability index and athletic performance.

Conditions

Low Back Pain; Athletic Injuries

Keywords

Ballistic Stretching; Athletic Tape; Eccentric Exercise; Low Back Pain; Athletic Performance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Frequency of Biceps Femoris Muscle

  The tones of muscle is described by frequency of muscle or oscillation frequency (Hz). It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.

  change from baseline frequency at 12 weeks

• Frequency of Semitendinosus Muscle

  The tones of muscle is described by frequency of muscle or oscillation frequency (Hz). It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.

  change from baseline frequency at 12 weeks

• Stiffness of Biceps Femoris Muscle

  Stiffness of muscle is described by reaction to contraction or forces from outside of tissue that may cause the original form to deteriorate. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.

  change from baseline frequency at 12 weeks

• Stiffness of Semitendinosus Muscle

  Stiffness of muscle is described by reaction to contraction or forces from outside of tissue that may cause the original form to deteriorate. It will be examined by the MyotonPro, Tallinn, Estonia.

  change from baseline frequency at 12 weeks

• Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)

  The NPRS is a segmented numeric version of the visual analog scale (VAS) in which a respondent selects a whole number (0-10 integers) that best reflects the intensity of his/her pain. The 11-point numeric scale ranges from '0' representing one pain extreme (e.g. "no pain") to '10' representing the other pain extreme (e.g. "pain as bad as you can imagine" or "worst pain imaginable").

  change from baseline pain at the time of activity at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Standing Long Jump Test (SLJT)

  change from baseline performance level at 12 weeks

• 2K-rowing test

  change from baseline performance time at 12 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Ballistic Stretching Exercise

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Athletes will be asked to reach the floor by leaning over in the standing posture without knee flexion. When they feel the tension in hamstring muscle groups, athletes will be requested to make small rebounding motion at degrees between 3°-5° for half a minute.

Other: Ballistic Stretching Exercise

Extender Exercise

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Athletes will lie on his back. Then, athletes will be asked to do 90 degrees of knee and hip flexion at the same time. Finally, the athletes is expected to perform slow repetitive knee extension to the point of maximal possible extension. According to Askling et al. and Aspetar protocol, it will be applied 12 repetitions and 3 sets.

Other: Extender Exercise

Kinesiotaping

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Kinesio taping will be applied to the hamstring muscle in the direction of inhibition with a Y-shaped and 25% tension force.

Other: Kinesiotaping

Interventions

Ballistic Stretching Exercise OTHER

It will be applied 4 times per week for 12 weeks.

Ballistic Stretching Exercise

Extender Exercise OTHER

It will be applied 4 times per week for 12 weeks.

Extender Exercise

Kinesiotaping OTHER

It will be applied 4 times per week for 12 weeks.

Kinesiotaping

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 18 Years
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Being between ages 14 and 18 and male gender
• Having been rowing at an elite level for at least one year with a professional team
• Having pain 3/10 or higher on NPRS
• Participating to the study in a voluntary basis.

You may not qualify if:

• Having limitation in lower extremity range of motion that limits completion of interventions
• Having a musculoskeletal injury involving the lower extremity in the last 6 months.
• Having undergone a operation in the last 6 months.
• Failing to complete any of interventions.
• Wanting to quit from study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Istanbul Nisantasi University: lead
• Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa: collaborator
• Yeditepe University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

İstanbul Nisantasi University

Istanbul, Maslak, 34398, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (7)

• Noormohammadpour P, Hosseini Khezri A, Farahbakhsh F, Mansournia MA, Smuck M, Kordi R. Reliability and Validity of Athletes Disability Index Questionnaire. Clin J Sport Med. 2018 Mar;28(2):159-167. doi: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000414.

  PMID: 28107217 BACKGROUND

• Ng L, Caneiro JP, Campbell A, Smith A, Burnett A, O'Sullivan P. Cognitive functional approach to manage low back pain in male adolescent rowers: a randomised controlled trial. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Sep;49(17):1125-31. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2014-093984. Epub 2015 Jan 24.

  PMID: 25618890 BACKGROUND

• Yu S, Lin L, Liang H, Lin M, Deng W, Zhan X, Fu X, Liu C. Gender difference in effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on flexibility and stiffness of hamstring muscle. Front Physiol. 2022 Jul 22;13:918176. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.918176. eCollection 2022.

  PMID: 35941935 BACKGROUND

• Almuzaini KS, Fleck SJ. Modification of the standing long jump test enhances ability to predict anaerobic performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jul;22(4):1265-72. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181739838.

  PMID: 18545179 BACKGROUND

• Severini G, Holland D, Drumgoole A, Delahunt E, Ditroilo M. Kinematic and electromyographic analysis of the Askling L-Protocol for hamstring training. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018 Dec;28(12):2536-2546. doi: 10.1111/sms.13288. Epub 2018 Sep 26.

  PMID: 30171776 BACKGROUND

• Askling CM, Tengvar M, Tarassova O, Thorstensson A. Acute hamstring injuries in Swedish elite sprinters and jumpers: a prospective randomised controlled clinical trial comparing two rehabilitation protocols. Br J Sports Med. 2014 Apr;48(7):532-9. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2013-093214.

  PMID: 24620041 BACKGROUND

• van Dyk N, Bahr R, Burnett AF, Whiteley R, Bakken A, Mosler A, Farooq A, Witvrouw E. A comprehensive strength testing protocol offers no clinical value in predicting risk of hamstring injury: a prospective cohort study of 413 professional football players. Br J Sports Med. 2017 Dec;51(23):1695-1702. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097754. Epub 2017 Jul 29.

  PMID: 28756392 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Hamstring extender exercise

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Low Back Pain; Athletic Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Back Pain; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Wounds and Injuries

Study Officials

• Onur Atakan Sekibağ, MSc

  Istanbul Nisantasi University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The investigator administering the treatment and the investigator performing the evaluations will be different. The evaluator will not know about the interventions that the participants received.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants will be divided into three groups with equal numbers by computer randomization method.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 1, 2023
• First Posted: July 11, 2023
• Study Start: August 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2024
• Study Completion: May 1, 2024
• Last Updated: January 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)