جواد صراف زاده

Tecar therapy as a modality has been considered due to its reported effects on reducing pain and swelling and finally increasing range of motion and improving function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of tecar therapy on acute symptoms of athletes following lateral ankle ligament sprain in the treatment and control groups between pre-treatment periods, after 6 sessions, and after 12 sessions of treatment.

In this study, 23 patients in each group including athletes with an acute lateral ankle ligament sprain in the acute stage in Tehran. The participant of this study were divided into 2 groups of control with normal treatment and the second group with normal treatment + tecar treatment. Participants were homogenized in terms of age, height, weight, and level of exercise. To evaluate the pain intensity of patients in the two groups and to measure the swelling of the ankle joint, a tape measure (mm) was used. A goniometer was used to measure the degree of ankle motions. The Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM) questionnaire was also used to collect data.

Statistical analyzes showed that the mean numerical visual criterion of pain in both groups was significantly lower after 6 and 12 sessions of treatment (P<0.001). The results of the analysis of variance showed that the mean swelling in the treatment group and in the control group after 6 and 12 sessions of treatment (P<0.001) was significantly lower than the mean swelling before treatment. Also, the mean swelling after 12 sessions of treatment was significantly lower than after 6 sessions of treatment (P<0.001). Regarding daily life activities and the percentage of athlete satisfaction in performing the activity, the test results showed that the athlete’s scores after 6 and 12 sessions of treatment (P<0.001) were significantly higher than before treatment. Also, their scores after 12 sessions of treatment were significantly higher than 6 sessions (P<0.001). The performance scores in both groups after 6 and 12 sessions of treatment (P<0.001) were significantly higher than performance scores before treatment. Also, the performance scores after 12 sessions of treatment were significantly higher than 6 sessions of treatment (P<0.001).

The results of the present study showed that tecar therapy in patients with lateral ligament sprain of the ankle joint improves the condition of symptoms after an injury, including swelling, pain, daily life activities, percentage of athlete satisfaction with daily activities, and finally his performance and it can be used as a complementary treatment along with common therapies.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of dry needling as local treatment of upper trapezius trigger points related to chronic neck pain on pain and pain pressure threshold in women with chronic nonspecific neck pain.

Thirty females with an active myofascial trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle were randomly divided into two groups: dry needling with passive stretch (n=15) and passive stretch alone (n=15). They received 5 sessions of the intervention for three weeks. The outcomes were pain intensity and pain pressure threshold. Every outcome was recorded at baseline and 2 days after the fifth session. 

Significant improvement in pain and pain pressure threshold was observed in both groups (P=0.0001) after the treatment. The results of the independent t-test showed a significant difference in measurements between the dry needling and passive stretch groups (P<0.05). 

Dry needling with passive stretch can be more effective on pain and pain pressure threshold than passive stretching alone in short term in women with nonspecific neck pain.

Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders. The MTrP includes highly sensitive points within a taut band, is painful to palpation, and causes pain in a specific pattern. The MTrP is more prevalent in the upper trapezius muscle because this muscle plays an important role in maintaining the posture of the head and neck. 
This study aimed to compare the effects of dry needling and high-intensity laser therapy on the clinical signs of females with active trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle.

Thirty females with the active MTrP of the upper trapezius muscle were randomly assigned into two groups: high-intensity laser therapy group (n=15) and dry needling group (n=15); they received the interventions in five sessions for three weeks. The outcome measures included pain intensity and pain pressure threshold, which were assessed before and two days after the interventions. 

In both study groups, the scores of the visual analogue scale of pain were significantly decreased, also, the pain pressure threshold was significantly increased (P=0.001), after the treatment. However, the two groups did not significantly differ in any of the outcome measures (P>0.05).

Both high-intensity laser therapy and dry needling can be employed to treat the MTrP of the upper trapezius muscle. Considering the effectiveness of the two treatments, each of the methods can be alternatively selected for these patients.

Chronic functional constipation is a prevalent and symptom-based disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. Constipation takes several different forms among patients. The Wexner Constipation Scoring System (WCSS) was developed to present a uniform tool for the assessment of chronic functional constipation. The purpose of this study was to provide the Persian version of WCSS and assess its validity and reliability.

WCSS was translated into Farsi. After being linguistically validated, the Persian version of the WCSS was administered to a sample of 76 patients with chronic functional constipation. Reliability tests were used to evaluate the internal consistency (the Cronbach alpha) and reproducibility (Intraclass Coefficient Correlation [ICC]) of the tool. The validation studies were conducted to assess the convergent validity (Correlated with the Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptom [PAC-SYM]) and Concurrent Validity (Correlated with Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life [PAC-QOL]) of the tool, too.

The Cronbach alpha for total scores was 0.66 and the ICC was 0.85 (0.77-0.90, 95% CI). The total score of WCSS was significantly correlated with the total scores of PAC-SYM (r=0.67) and PAC-QOL (r=0.61). 

The linguistic and psychometric evaluation demonstrated good validity and reproducibility of the Persian version of WCSS.

The back extensor muscles are the main spinal supportive factors which function establishes spinal stability and erect posture of the spine. Spine deviation from the ideal alignment, like abnormal increase in the forward curvature of the thoracic spine may cause changes in the trunk muscle activity which can lead to a change in the spinal proprioception. It seems that the corrected spinal alignment as a result of an orthotic treatment course facilitates the back muscles activity and improve proprioception. The present study aimed to investigate the changes occurring in thoracic kyphosis, trunk extensor muscle strength and trunk extensor force sense after using the Spinomed orthosis in elderly people with hyperkyphosis. Twenty-six elderly people with hyperkyphosis who met the eligibility criteria participated in this preliminary study at School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, from August to November of 2017. Subjects were randomly allocated to the experimental (wearing the orthosis with maintaining the daily physical activities) and control (maintaining daily physical activities) groups. Degree of kyphosis, absolute error of force sense and trunk extensor muscle strength were measured in all participants before and after intervention for 9 weeks. Thirteen elderly people with 63.85±4.63 years old in the experimental group and thirteen elderly people with 66.92±3.25 years old were participated in data analysis. The results showed significant reduction in degree of kyphosis (P<0.001) and absolute error of force sense (P=0.001), and improvement of trunk extensor muscle strength (P=0.021) in the experimental group. Independent t-test results showed a significant difference between experimental and control groups with better outcomes in terms of posture correction (P<0.001) strength (P=0.002) and force sense (P=0.035) in the orthosis group. Using Spinomed orthosis for 2 months (2 hours per day) appears to have some benefit in terms of back extensor muscle strength and muscle force control. Also, Spinomed orthosis can be prescribed to improve spinal posture.

One of the most common inappropriate postures is forward head posture (FHP), which the head is placed in front of the trunk in sagittal plane. Due to head and neck joints and muscles’ impairments, it seems this postural disorder might affect neck proprioception. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate cervical proprioception in FHP subjects with and without neck pain and healthy subjects.

31 subjects with FHP, 31 subjects with FHP and 31 healthy subjects were participated in this study. Craniovertebral (CV) angle was determined by photography. Cervical range of motion (CROM) device was used to measure active range of motion (AROM), joint reposition error of target angle (50 percent of the total AROM) and neutral angle in neck flexion, extension, left and right rotation and lateral flexion.

The results of ANOVA test showed there was a significant difference between AROM of extension, right rotation, and left lateral flexion between groups (p<0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference between target and neutral angle reposition error in all directions in FHP groups and healthy group (p<0.05). Also, the result of Pearson correlation test showed a significant and inverse correlation between CV angle and repositioning error (p<0.05).

The results of our study showed that FHP, regardless of pain, increases the amount of joint reposition error. As a result, mechanical stability and normal kinematics are reduced.

Urinary incontinence is one of the most important pelvic floor disorders affecting the patients' quality of life. Although natural delivery and pregnancy are the most important risk factors, less attention is paid to the other involved factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors influencing urinary incontinence in women. A total of 195 obese women (91 cases with urinary incontinence and 104 without UI) were studied in the age range of 25 to 65 years old. After obtaining their consent to participate in the project, completion of the questionnaires and measurement of anthropometric characteristics were performed. SPSS software (version 18, USA) and ANOVA, t-test, and chi-square test were used for Data analysis (α≥ 0.05). There was a significant relationship observed between the mean age, menopause, as well as regular exercise and urinary incontinence. The mean age was higher in the affected group, and regular weekly exercise reduced the incidence of urinary incontinence. In general, the mean of anthropometric indices (height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist to height ratio) was lower in participants with urinary incontinence Contrary to the popular belief, in obese women with urinary incontinence, low anthropometric indices appear to increase the incidence of urinary incontinence and regular exercise can reduce the incidence of urinary incontinence.

According to the modern life style that includes lack of adequate physical activity, incorrect position while working with computer, and long term driving, forward head posture is a whidespread problem. As forward head posture can change the vertebral column position in sagittal plane and muscle length-tension and it may change kinematic of scapula and incorrect scapular kinematic can lead to shoulder pathologies and shoulder pain, it is important to recognize the scapular kinematic in patients with forward head posture. The aim of the present study was to evaluate scapular kinematic in patients with forward head posture using lateral scapular slide test and the compare it with that in healthy individuals.  

A total of 45 women with forward head posture and 45 matched healthy individuals participated in the present study. To evaluate and diagnose the forward head posture, photography method was used and to evaluate scapular kinematic, lateral scapular slide test was used.

There was a significant difference in the asymmetry of scapula in all test positions of lateral scapular slide test between the two groups.

Our results indicated that the forward head posture can cause more asymmetry of the scapula and so it is important to evaluate scapular kinematic in these patients.

One of the main components of somatosensory system is proprioception, which can be measured via position sense, movement sense, and sense of force. Although local investigation of proprioception is important, its influences in a kinetic chain particularly between spine and extremities should not be ignored. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to compare knee joint proprioception in Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain (CNSLBP) and heathy people in different lumbar posions.
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A total of 25 healthy and 20 female participants with CNSLBP took part in the current study. Knee joint reposition error in lumbar flexion, neutral position, 50% of rotation to left (Lt Rot), and 50% of rotation to right (Rt Rot) with closed eyes in sitting were evaluated using inclinometer. Also, absolute and constant errors were obtained and analyzed.

Absolute and constant errors in flexion and neutral positions in CNSLBP patients were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects, but they were not significantly different in 50% rot to either sides.

Knee joint repositioning error increased in CNSLBP patients compared with healthy participants. This finding suggests that proprioception and sensory-motor training programs can improve joint position sense in the lower limb specifically in the knee joint as well as the low back in CNSLBP patients.

Anatomy and biomechanics of the spine have been changed because of modern life style and working in unhealthy environments; therefore, diagnosis of postural deviations and their kinematic relationship has particular importance in detection, prevention, and treatment of these disorders. One of the most common postural abnormalities is forward head posture which could be created independently or after other postural disorders. The aim of the present study was to evaluate spine curves in patients with forward head posture and to compare it with healthy individuals.

In the current study, 51 patients and 50 healthy participants, matched height, weight, and age, were recruited. To evaluate and diagnose the forward head posture, photography method and calculation of craniovertabral angle were used and to measure the spinal curvatures, flexi curve, as a noninvasive and valid method, was used. All measurements were performed in both standing and sitting positions.

Statistical results showed that by reducing the craniovertabral angle, thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis increased and also there is a significant difference in craniovertabral angle, head tilt angle, thoracic kyphosis, and lumbar lordosis between the two groups and also between sitting and standing position (p<0.05).

Our results indicated that the increase of forward head posture in standing position is associated with the increase of thoracic kyphosis and also lumbar lordosis and in sitting position it is associated with the increase of thoracic kyphosis.

Forward Head Posture (FHP) is one of the most common postural abnormalities in the cervicothoracic region that can lead to muscle imbalance and probably future pain. However, there is no study available assessing muscle strength in these patients compared with healthy individuals.

A total of 18 FHP and 16 healthy individuals were recruited after signing the informed consent. The strengths of cervical flexor and extensor muscles were assessed using handheld dynamometer in supine and prone lying positions, respectively. Three 5-second trials of maximum voluntary isometric contraction of cervical flexion and extension were performed with 1-minute rest interval between them and the mean value of the trials was considered for further analysis.

FHP group demonstrated significantly lower cervical muscle strength in both flexion (P=0.001) and extension (P=0.000) directions as compared with those of healthy participants. There was no significant difference between flexor and extensor muscles in either FHP or healthy participants (P

FHP individuals exhibited flexor and extensor muscles weakness in comparison with participants. Findings of the present study intensify the necessity of muscle strengthening program for FHP individuals as well as all asymptomatic computer users or people that have prolonged driving or sitting habit in their routine lifestyle.

Evacuation is one of the 6 essential health’s rules. Dysfunction in normal fecal depletion causes multiple diseases. In traditional Persian medicine, constipation is known to be mother of diseases that in addition to the digestive system gradually affects the whole body. Therefore, it’s very important to design proper toilets in order to help proper fecal depletion. The aim of the current study is to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the two common squatting and sitting toilets.

 This as a review study. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, Springer, and Google Scholar were searched using related keywords and related articles in traditional and conventional medicine were studied.

Squatting and sitting toilets are two of the most common toilets. It seems that in healthy people, squatting toilet is the most appropriate choice considering the health of the digestive system, biomechanics and fast, east and complete depletion. Chronic use of sitting toilets has probably lots of adverse effects on the health of the digestive system and consequently the whole body. But if for some reason squatting toilet is not applicable, siting toilet can be considered as a good alternative.

Dry needling has been introduced as an effective method to treat the upper trapezius myofascial pain. Muscle damage after receiving the local twitch response can increase the risk of tissue fibrosis in some cases. This study aimed to investigate how the clinical parameters change after dry needling without local twitch response.
This is a quasi-experimental study, with pretest and posttest. A total of 26 patients suffering from neck pain with an active trigger point in their upper trapezius muscles were recurited via the convenience sampling methods. In all patients, the needle was moved 15 times in the trigger point of the trapezius muscle and then remained in place for 5 minutes. Participants were assigned in the dry needling with local twitch response (experimental group) when a local twitch response was evoked from muscle and without receiving local twitch response or de qi (control group) when a local twitch response was not seen. Then, they were treated with one session of dry needling. Before the intervention and 24 hours after the treatment, pain, pain pressure threshold, and neck disability index were evaluated. The obtained data were analyzed by multivariate ANCOVA using SPSS version 20.
After the treatment, no significant changes were seen in the experimental group compared to the control group (P>0.05) regarding the pain, the pain pressure threshold, and neck disability index.
Dry needling along with receiving local twitch response does not have a superiority over the dry needling without receiving the local twitch response while the treatment aimed to receive the immediate effects.

Spasticity is one of the impairments in patients with stroke which cause more disability and secondary problems. Now, there are some ways to reduce spasticity such as drugs, exercise, heat, massage, and sensory level electrical stimulation. This study assessed the immediate effect of sensory level stimulation on spasticity in plantar flexor muscles in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia.
In this study, 10 patients received 10 sessions of treatment. Protocol was 30 minutes electrical stimulation and 30 minutes proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques to improve initiation and controlling of movement. Level of the spasticity was measured carefully before and after the stimulation using Modified Ashworth scale.
Findings: Electrical stimulation reduced the spasticity in two women and one man. Stimulation had not effect on seven patients. Electrical stimulation had not effect on grades one and three spasticity; it had effect on grades one-plus and two but not in all of the patients. The stimulation had effect on patients with good cognition who did their exercises carefully.
Sensory level electrical stimulation has temporary effect only on middle-grade spasticity in middle exercise sessions. There is not any effect in next session and efficacy of stimulation reduces and stops. This electrical stimulation cannot disappear the spasticity and does not have any effect on high-grade spasticity.

Background and Proprioception is one of the somatic senses which is used by the nervous system for muscular control. Inappropriate posture or pain could result in impaired proprioception. One of these poor postures is forward head posture (FHP). The aim of this study was to investigate cervical repositioning error in FHP subjects with and without neck pain and normal individuals.
A case-control study was conducted consisting of people who had FHP without neck pain (n=31), individuals with FHP and neck pain (n=31), and healthy subjects (n=31). Cervical total range of motion (ROM) and then repositioning error in target angle (50% of full ROM in each movement( of flexion, extension, right and left lateral flexion, and right and left rotation were measured by cervical range of motion (CROM) device. Pain intensity was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS).
Cervical ROM in FHP subjects was significantly less than that of healthy subjects in most movement directions. The absolute repositioning error of the target angle in FHP subjects was found to be significantly more than that of healthy subjects in most movement directions (p FHP whether with or without pain may increase the cervical repositioning error. But presence of pain do not leads to higher rates of error.

Rotator cuff tendon rupture is the most frequent cause of shoulder pain and disability, especially in middle and old age. Physiotherapy is known as non-surgical or conservative treatment for it. The goal of this research was to investigate the effect of physiotherapy treatment in full-thickness tear of Supraspinatus tendon on shoulder pain and shoulder active range of motion.
In this before and after clinical trial, 17 patients (5 men and 12 women) with average age of 54.35±7.13 years old whom had full-thickness tear of Supraspinatus tendon were treated within 30 physiotherapy clinical sessions. The physiotherapy protocol for patients was included of heat, ultrasound and electrical stimulations modules and exercise therapy program was consisted of three components of stretching, strengthening and endurance. Patients in the first, twentieth and at the end of the thirtieth session were evaluated for pain and range of motion. Pain variable by visual analogue scale and range of motion variable by goniometer were evaluated.
Within subjects ANOVA (parametric) and Friedman (nonparametric) tests showed a significant difference in pain and range of motion between before and after physiotherapy (P This study showed that physiotherapy may reduce pain and improve range of motion of shoulder in surgery candidate patients with full-thickness tear of Supraspinatus tendon and decrease client needs to surgery. However, studies with longer follow-up are recommended to evaluate this outcome.

Forward Head Posture (FHP) is one of the most common postural disorders which related to current life style. This disorder may cause some changes in motor control of cervical muscles.
Eight subjects with Forward Head Posture and 8 matched healthy subjects wereParticipated. The kinematic and electromyographic activity of each subject was analyzed and the flexion- Relaxation phenomenon was determined.
The results showed that the cessation of flexion-relaxation phenomenon was different between two groups (P The flexion- relaxation phenomenon was different in Forward Head Posture related to the healthy subjects and the concentric contraction was started with delay in the Forward Head Posture subjects. Therefore, the motor control and balance disorder may be seen in these subjects.

The aim of this study was to determine the short-term and long-term effects of one protocol of physiotherapy on reduction of pain, improve active lumbar range of motion and disability in the patients with chronic lumbar radicular pain.
A total of 12 patients with lumbar radiculopathy were included in this study. Physical therapy included electrical nerve stimulation at sensory level, superficial heat and therapeutic exercise for patients. Pain intensity of lumbar and affected lower extremity, active lumbar range of motion and disability were considered as variables in this study. The evaluation was performed 6 months after the end of therapy sessions. The repeated measure of ANOVA was used to assess the effect of physiotherapy and pair t-test was used to assess the follow-up.
Statistically significant differences were found in lumbar pain, affected lower extremity, active lumbar flexion, right and left lateral flexion and disability after treatment (p0.05).
Physiotherapy is an effective treatment in order to reduce pain and improve active lumbar range of motion in patients with lumbar radicular pain.

Proprioception is a component of somatosensory system. One of the most important somatosensory receptors is muscle spindles. Neck area with high density of muscle spindle, plays a significant role in providing this sense. With repeated contact sports, with high trauma on head and neck region, it is likely that proprioception will be impaired. The present study was conducted to compare proprioception between wrestlers, taekwondo players and non-athlete subjects to determine the effect of trauma on proprioception of craniocervical region.
Material and This study was a case-control study of 75 male with the age range of 18-30 years (Including: 25 professional wrestlers, 25 professional taekwondo players and 25 non-athlete subjects). Participants were selected through simple non-probability sampling. To assess proprioception of craniocervical region, angular repositioning of two positions (neutral and 50% of range of motion) was evaluated by using the cervical range of motion device (CROM device). The statistical method which used in this study was one way ANOVA.
Accuracy of target repositioning (50% of range of motion) of extension, right and left rotation were significantly different between three groups (p It is assumed that proprioception of craniocervical region has been affected by trauma in wrestlers and taekwondo players, so that the accuracy of head repositioning for both neutral and target positions were reduced in wrestlers. However, taekwondo players had more errors in repositioning of target angle.

Anterior cruciate ligament injury(ACL)is more common than other types of injuries in knee joint ligaments. The primary goal of rehabilitation for ACL injury is to restore subject’s function. No study to date has investigated the clinical effect of toe-in waling exercise in subjects with anterior cruciate ligament injury; although its effect on gait has been discussed, extensively. Present study was aimed to determine the effect of six-week home based supervised toe-in walking exercise on function of non-coper anterior cruciate ligament deficient subjects in single hope test and figure of eight test.

This study was designed as a pilot quasi experimental study. Seven young non-coper men suffering from anterior cruciate ligament injury were selected according to the inclusion criteria introduced by Fitzgerald et. al. The participants got training for toe-in walking. They were instructed to walk at home with shoes for 30 minutes every day for 6 weeks. Subjects’ function in single hope test and figure of eight test was recorded. All participants were asked to fill in the IKDC before and after training program. Data were analyzed by SPSS, version 16.

The quadriceps strength(P=0.05), single hope test score(P=0.04)and figure of eight test score(P=0.001)improved significantly following six weeks of toe-in walking program at home. The improvement in limb symmetry index and IKDC score were not statistically significant.

It seems that suggested training program may improve the function of subjects suffering from anterior cruciate ligament injury.

One of the most common faulty posture of cervical spine is forward head posture (FHP). According to biomechanical changes in the muscles and ligaments of the neck which are rich source of mechanoreceptors, proprioception possibly impaired in forward head posture. Assessment of neck repositioning angles can be an indicator to assess proprioception of this region. The aim of this study was to investigate cervical proprioception in forward head posture subjects in sagittal plane and compare it with normal subjects. This is a case –control study and subjects were selected simply from student of Iran University of medical science. Eighteen subjects with FHP (mean age 23.18 years) and twenty two normal subjects (mean age 22.72 years) were participated in this study. Photography of sagittal view was done in standing to determine the amount of FHP, craniovertebral angle (CVA) was calculated and the angle less than 49 degree was considered as FHP. Reposition error of target angle (50% range of motion) and neutral angle in sagittal plane with close eyes in sitting posture was evaluated with motion analysis system. Absolute and constant error of repositioning were obtained and analyzed. Absolute error did not show significant difference between two groups (P>0.05) but constant error of neutral angle when return from forward flexion showed significant difference between two groups (P<0.05). Also a significant correlation was found between body mass index(BMI) and CVA. This means that increase in BMI could be decrease CVA (P<0.05). Results of this study indicated that subjects with FHP had more repositioning error in some cervical movements related to the healthy individuals.

Regarding to high prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in athletes and its effect on their athletic function, an accurate evaluation before planning the rehabilitation program seems necessary in athletes with LBP. It should be considered that human movements are like as a kinetic chain. It means that any problems in every parts of this chain can cause dysfunction in the other parts of the chain. Not taking attention to the relationships between different parts of this chain may result in suboptimal rehabilitation. Therefore, focusing treatment on the entire parts of the kinetic chain besides the injured part, may prevent recurrenceof the dysfunction. Since in the kinetic chain hip muscles act as a link between lower extremities and trunk, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare muscles strength of hip joint in female athletes with and without non-specific chronic LBP. Fifteen healthy female athletes and 15 female athletes with non-specific chronic LBP participated in this study. Their age was between 18-30 years. Hip extension, abduction and external rotation strength in all participants were measured. A hand-held dynamometer (HHD) was used to measure muscle strength. Since fixing HHD by examiner’s hand is fraught with error, it is fixed by a stable frame. The maximum strength value of hip extension and abduction in female athletes with LBP were significantly lower than these measures in healthy group (P < 0.05). No significant differences were seen in the maximum value of hip external rotation strength between two groups (P > 0.05). The results of the present study show that hip extension and abduction strength in female athletes with LBP were lower than these measures in healthy group. Therefore, hip strength measurements besides the examination of the spinal column seem to be necessary in evaluation and rehabilitation of the patients with LBP.

The curves of the spine, especially lumbar lordosis, play an important role in the maintenance of an efficient upright posture and allow efficient absorption of the loads applied to the spinal column and increase the efficiency of the spinal musculature. Excessive lumbar postures, also called “hyperlordosis” and “hypolordosis”, are thought by some researchers to be indicative of altered muscle activity and stress patterns. Therefore tolerance of particular activities of daily living (ADL) of an individual with these postures is reduced. Despite the importance of neuromuscular control at spinal column maintenance and coordination, there are little investigations about the effect of thoracic and lumbar curvatures on trunk muscles activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate electromyographic behavior of trunk muscles in lordotic posture. Twelve subjects with lordotic posture (mean age 23.67 years, mean weight 56.67 kg, and mean height 162 cm) and eleven subjects with normal posture (mean age 22 years, mean weight 59.36 kg, and mean height 164.91 cm) participated in this study. Subjects were asked to hold a load equivalent of 7% of her body weight. Data analysis indicated that there is not significant statistically difference in median frequency variable between two groups (p>0.05). But there is significant statistically differences at The percentage change in RMS of erector spinae and internal oblique muscles at three time periods between two groups. The percentage change in RMS of external oblique muscle has significant statistically difference at first and third time periods between two groups. These finding reveal that excessive lumbar lordosis alter the activity levels of trunk muscles. Therefore, it seems that the use of posture correction exercises in therapeutic protocols is necessary for improvement of these changes. Also, it is recommended to do this research in dynamic tasks for attain of comprehensive information about the effect of postural deviation on electromyographic behavior of trunk muscles.

Many studies investigated the effect of ankle-foot orthosis on reducing the incidence of sprain. In this study the influence of elastic and semirigid stirrup type orthosis on the onset latency of peroneus longus muscle activity as the most important support of ankle- foot region in response to sudden perturbation was assessed in healthy group and athletes with functional ankle instability. Thirteen healthy female athletes and 10 female athletes with functional ankle instability (17 to 27 years old) were perturbed unexpectedly by a custom made ankle perturbation system in frontal plane under three conditions of without orthotics، using elastic orthosis، and using semirigid stirrup-type orthosis. Simultaneous recording of electrical activity of peronus longus muscle was performed with surface electromyography. The results showed the significant differences between muscular latency of injured and control groups without orthosis (P=0. 018). The onset latency reduced using each type of the orthoses in injured group but it was not significant (P>0. 05). Although the latency time of peroneus longus muscle response delay didn’t show significant reduction using orthoses in injured group، it seems that using orthoses leads to proprioception improvement and sensiomotor control increasement by stimulation of cutaneous mechanoreceptors.