earticle

영어

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy on asymmetric hamstring and back pain in patients with non-specific chronic back pain. Twenty-nine subjects with nonspecific chronic low back pain were classified into experimental group (n=15) and control group (n=14). Outcome measures included hamstring length, hamstring length difference, compensative lumbar flexion and rotation, hamstring thickness, disability index, and pain intensity. The experimental group performed extracorporeal shock wave and stretching technique twice a week for three weeks, and the control group performed the stretching technique twice a week for three weeks. Extracorporeal shock waves applied 4 pressure (0.37 mJ/mm), and 2,000 shocks to the hamstring with 10 Hz. Stretching techniques are applied after extracorporeal shock wave therapy. There was a significant difference of dependent variables in the experimental group, and in the control group, there was a significant difference except for lumbar rotation. In between-group comparison, the experimental group showed signifiacnlty greater lumbar flexion and thickness of biceps femoris compared to the control group. Based on these results, we recommend extracorporeal shock wave therapy as an intervention that can reduce compensatory lumbar rotation and lengthen shortened hamstrings.