Facial Tactile Stimulation and Hamstring Flexibility

Effect of Tactile Stimulation of Facial Skin on Hamstring Flexibility in Healthy Young Males

Inhibition of the sub-occipital muscle group is shown to increase the elasticity of Hamstring muscles. Reversely, stretching of the hamstring muscles is shown to change the pressure pain thresholds over the masseter and upper trapezius muscles. There appears to be a functional link between the neuromuscular system of the head and neck and lower extremities. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of tactile stimulation of facial skin on hamstring length in healthy young males. A total of sixty-six participants participated in the study. Hamstring length was measured by the 'Sit and reach' test in long sitting and 'Toe touch' test in standing position before and after two minutes of facial tactile stimulation in the experimental group and rest in the control group.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hamstring Flexibility
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Facial tactile stimulation

Detailed Description

Sixty-six young healthy males in the age range 20-30 years participated in the study. They were free of any musculoskeletal conditions that would affect their performance during the test procedures. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental group (EG) and control CG) groups. After each subject was briefed about the objectives and procedure of the experiment, written informed consent was obtained. The study fully complied with the ethical standards for human research of our university review board.

The 'Sit and Reach' (SR) test in long sitting and the 'Toe touch' (TT) test in standing were performed according to previously described protocols. Before the start of each testing session of flexibility tests (SR and TT), subjects were asked to perform about 3-5 minutes of warm-up and standardized static stretching exercises focused on the lower back and hamstring muscles.

For the SR test, a strong cubic wooden box of 35 cm was placed against the wall and each subject sat on the floor mat in a long sitting position. The knees were in full extension and the soles of the shoeless feet in neutral ankle position were placed against the box. Subjects were asked to slowly reach forward towards the toes as far as possible while keeping elbows and fingers fully extended, with palms facing down. The subjects had to maintain this position for about five seconds. The distance (in centimeters) between the tips of the middle finger and a reference point on the wooden box was noted.

For the TT test, subjects had to stand upright on the wooden box with feet at hip-width apart and were instructed to bend slowly to reach towards the toes as far as possible while keeping the knees, elbows, and fingers fully extended, with palms facing backward. The subjects had to maintain this position for about five seconds. Again, the distance (in centimeters) between the tips of the middle finger and a reference point on the floor was noted.

For both the SR and the TT tests, the calculated mean recorded distance between the tips of the middle fingers and the reference point during three trials with two-minute rest intervals in-between was used as a reference value for each subject for subsequent analyzes. These mean values were termed Pretest-SR and Pretest TT, respectively. Following the baseline assessment value of the SR and TT tests, each subject of CG or EG underwent three additional trials for each test, with a two-minute interval in between the trials. SR and TT tests were performed randomly without any specific order for both groups of subjects at the same time of day and room temperature. During the two-minute interval, the CG subjects spent their time resting in the supine position with closed eyes, while the EG subjects received tactile stimulation on the facial skin in the supine position with closed eyes. The tactile stimulation to the facial skin of the EG subjects was given by one of the authors and consisted of random strokes similar to a paintbrush around the face with soft tissue paper for two minutes.

For each subject of the CG and EG, the mean distance values between the tips of the middle fingers and the reference point during three trials during the SR and TT tests were calculated, respectively. These mean values were termed Post-test-SR and Post-test-TT, respectively. For all subjects of both the CG and EG, the difference between the Post-test-SR and Pre-test-SR; and Pre-test-TT and Pre-test-TT mean values were calculated. A greater difference between the Post-test-SR and Pre-test-SR; and the Post-test-TT and Pre-test-TT mean values were considered as increased flexibility of the hamstring muscles.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 66
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• young healthy adults

Exclusion Criteria:

• Musculoskeletal disease that can affect the testing.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental Group; Facial tactile stimulation was applied for 2 minutes.	Other: Facial tactile stimulation; Tactile stimulation was given around the face with soft tissue paper for two minutes.
No Intervention: Control Group; No intervention was applied.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hamstring flexibility	Hamstring muscle length was measured by Sit and reach test and Toe-touch test.	2 minutes.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: King Saud University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 10, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 21, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): March 13, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 20, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 22, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 20, 2022
• Last Verified: July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Facial skin; hamstring muscle flexibility; tactile Stimulation
• Other Study ID Numbers: RRC-2013-013

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No