"Comparative Effect of Rolfing Soft Tissue Manipulation and Bowen Technique on Calf Tightness Among Housewives"

Experimental: Rolfing Soft Tissue Manipulation

Rolfing soft tissue manipulation aimed to separate bound up fascia by deeply separating the fibers manually to loosen them and allow efficient movement patterns. Rolfing practitioners use their hands, knuckles, elbows and more to "release, realign and balance the whole body". The fascia manipulated until it can operate in conjunction to the muscles in a normal fashion

Outro: Rolfing Soft Tissue Manipulation

The initial intervention involved applying a hot pack to the calf muscles (10-minute duration), then with the participant in the prone position and the therapist by their side, a 120-second hold of the Rolfing technique of MFR was applied for the calf muscle

Comparador Ativo: Bowen Technique

Bowen technique is described as a soft tissue remedial therapy, the therapist uses fingers or thumbs to apply pain-free, gentle rolling moves over muscle, ligament, tendon and other connective tissues in specific parts of the body

Outro: Bowen Technique

The Bowen Technique involves the application of gentle rolling motions on specific target muscles or connective tissues using the fingers and thumbs, typically ranging from fifteen to forty-five minutes per session,

Goniometer

Goniometer is easily accessible and is an important tool for measuring range of motion of different joints. To measure DFROM using a goniometer, participants were instructed to lay supine and with the knee straight and actively dorsiflex their ankles to end of range by bringing their toes up towards their head. For angle measurement, the axis center of the goniometer was placed on the most prominent point of the lateral malleolus, with the fixed arm of the goniometer along with the leg, and the movable arm parallel with the sole of the foot

WBLT (knee to wall test)

A tape measure was used.

1. stand facing a wall with about 10cm between participant's big toe and wall.
2. move one foot backward so it is about a foot behind the leg investigator is testing.(one leg at a time)
3. now bend front knee until the kneecap touches the wall, keeping the heel on ground.
4. If participant's knee cannot reach the wall without heel coming off ground, inch participant's foot closer to the wall and try again.
5. If participant's knee was able to touch the wall too easily with the 10cm set up without heel coming off the ground, move foot further away from wall and try again.
6. repeat step 4 or 5 until participant can just touch kneecap to the wall while heel stays on ground.
7. Measure and record the distance between wall and big toe. Do repeat the test on the other leg. Smaller than 9-10cm is considered a restricted, shortened calf muscle.