Page 78 - JCTR-10-2

Journal of Clinical and Translational Research 2024; 10(2): 172-179

Journal of Clinical and Translational Research

Journal homepage: http://www.jctres.com/en/home

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The effects of lumbar self-sustained natural apophyseal glides on lumbar

spine range of motion and hip muscle flexibility in asymptomatic college
students: a crossover study

Yuto Kikuchi , Kiyokazu Akasaka *, Takahiro Otsudo , Hiroshi Hattori , Yuki Hasebe , Yuji Hamada , Toby Hall 6
1,3
5
1,2
4
1,2
1,3
1 Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate School of Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan, Department of Rehabilitation,
2
Kawagoe Clinic, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan, School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health and Medical Care, Saitama Medical
3
University, Saitama, Japan, Department of Rehabilitation, Major of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Tokyo University of Technology,
4
Tokyo, Japan, Department of Rehabilitation, Saitama Medical University Saitama Medical Center, Saitama, Japan, School of Allied Health in
5
6
Physiotherapy, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Article history: Background: Patients with low back pain (LBP) tend to have prolonged treatment periods, which
Received: July 21, 2023 increase the cost of medical care. Several studies have reported that lumbar spine range of motion
Accepted: October 26, 2023 (ROM) and hip muscle flexibility are factors in LBP. Sustained natural apophyseal glides (SNAGs)
Published Online: April 25, 2024 have reportedly improved the lumbar spine ROM and hip flexibility of LBP patients. Moreover, self-
SNAGs can be performed by the patients themselves.
Keywords: Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of self-SNAGs on lumbar spine ROM
Manual therapy compared to a repeated movement procedure in asymptomatic college students.
Able-bodied person Methods: A prospective crossover study was conducted on 14 asymptomatic male college students.
Crossover study The asymptomatic participants performed self-SNAGs or repeated movements (i.e., three sets per
day, 6 times a day over 1 week), and the compliance rate for both exercises was recorded. The
*Corresponding author: lumbar spine ROM (i.e., flexion, extension, lateral bending, and rotation) was measured using the
Kiyokazu Akasaka back ROM instrument, and hip muscle flexibility was measured using the Thomas test, heel-buttock
Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate distance, finger-floor distance, and straight leg raise test (SLR). Measurements were taken before
School of Medicine, Saitama Medical commencement, immediately after, and 1 week later.
University, Moroyama, Saitama, Japan/School Results: Left lateral bending and left SLR were excluded from the between-group comparison (self-
of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health and SNAG and sham) due to a carryover effect (P < 0.05). A comparison between the self-SNAG and
Medical Care, Saitama Medical University, sham groups displayed no significant differences in the lumbar spine ROM and hip muscle flexibility
Saitama, Japan. (P > 0.05).
Email: akasaka-smc@umin.ac.jp
Conclusion: Our study revealed that lumbar self-SNAGs had no significant effect on lumbar spine
ROM or hip muscle flexibility in the short term, suggesting that such movements should be avoided
© 2024 Author(s). This is an Open-Access
article distributed under the terms of the when stretching to prevent LBP. However, this study did not include subjects with limited lumbar
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial spine ROM and hip muscle flexibility due to pain, warranting further validation in future studies.
License, permitting all non-commercial use, Relevance for Patients: The effects of lumbar self-SNAGs were similar to that of sham exercises in
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, healthy individuals without joint ROM restrictions in the trunk or lower extremities due to LBP.
provided the original work is properly cited.

1. Introduction

Low back pain (LBP) is expected to develop in approximately 75.6% of adults at some
point in their lives [1,2], and the recovery period is a significant financial burden even in
developed countries [3-5]. LBP is commonly associated with decreased mobility of the
lumbar spine [6-8], that is, decreased muscle flexibility around the trunk and hip joints [9-13]
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36922/jctr.23.00091