earticle

영어

The objective of this study was to measure the effect of applying heat therapy before gastrocnemius stretching on the angle of dorsiflexion and pennate angle of the gastrocnemius in people with limited ankle dorsiflexion. The study included 20 subjects with limited ankle dorsiflexion. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the control group, which performed only gastrocnemius stretching, or the group with heat therapy applied before gastrocnemius stretching. The subjects in the experimental heat therapy group placed a hot pack on their calf muscles for 20 minutes before the gastrocnemius stretching. For each of the subjects, the passive dorsiflexion angles and pennate angles of the gastrocnemius were measured before and immediately after each intervention. A goniometer was used to measure the passive dorsiflexion angle, and ultrasound was used to measure the pennate angle of the gastrocnemius. The passive dorsiflexion angles significantly increased, and the pennate angle significantly decreased after intervention in both groups compared to the pre-intervention measurements (p<.05). The passive dorsiflexion angles increased significantly and the pennate angle decreased significantly in the group that applied heat therapy before stretching compared to the group that only stretched (p<.05). These results suggest that for people with limited ankle dorsiflexion, applying heat therapy before gastrocnemius stretching is more effective at improving ankle dorsiflexion compared to gastrocnemius stretching alone.