Hong Rae Kim

The Influence of Flip-flops Gait on the Muscle Activity of Tibilalis anterior and Gastrocnemius

The fact that flip-flops, one of many different types of unstable shoes, are light and relatively easy to put on, accounts for their popularity among people. But because flip-flops rely heavily on the support of a single thong between your first and second toes, they impose a huge amount of pressure onto lower leg. Thus in the following experiment we tried to examine the different effects of flip-flops and running shoes in terms of their effect on muscle activity and fatigue of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius during walking. In order to measure an electromyogram we used Free EMG system. 10 men and 10 women in running shoes ran on treadmills for 15 minutes at 4.8km/h, 2 days later the same experiment was carried out, but this time, in flip-flops. p value turned out to be greater than .05 and thus there was no considerable difference between the effects of flip-flops and running shoes on muscle activity and fatigue during walking. Therefore we conclude that despite the fact that flip-flops are considered unstable, their effects on muscle activity and fatigue of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius are negligible.

The Correlation between Flexi-bar Exercise and Trunk Muscles Strength and Body Composition in Juvenile Soccer Players

The purpose of this study is to verify a correlation between flexi-bar exercise and improvement of trunk strength and body composition in juvenile soccer players. The subjects were 11 teenager juvenile soccer players who conducted flexi-bar exercise half an hour daily three times a week for eight weeks. They were tested for trunk muscles strength, body composition and correlation. The result showed that trunk muscles strength improved significantly( p<.01) and weight, Rt. arm muscle mass, Rt. leg muscle mass, and Lt. leg muscle mass(p<.05), Lt. arm muscle mass, trunk muscle mass, and body muscle mass(p<.01) improved significantly as well while Lt. arm fat mass, Rt. leg fat mass, and Lt. leg fat mass decreased significantly(p<.05). In the correlation analysis, the more trunk muscle mass and trunk muscles strength increased, the more muscle mass of body regions increased, which was a positive correlation whereas fat mass of body regions decreased, which was a negative correlation. It was verified that there was a correlation between flexi-bar exercise and improvement of trunk muscles strength and body composition for juvenile soccer players.

The Effect of Application Parameter of Pulsed Direct Current on Wound Healing of Patients with Pressure Ulcer

This study investigated the effects of changes to the pulsation factor of pulsed direct currents on wound healing. Patients with a pressure ulcer at a care hospital for the elderly were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1 involved the application of in pulse duration, 10 ms in pulse period, 100 pps in a pulsation factor, 15 mA in pulse amplitude, and polarity red+ by using pulsed direct currents; Group 2 involved a change of pulse period to 8 ms; and Group 3 received general wound management. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the changing stages of pressure ulcers among the groups, all the groups dropped in numerical stages. In the two groups to which pulsed direct currents were applied, there was a statistically significant reduction in the stages of pressure ulcers from the initial assessment to the 12-week assessment (p

The Effects of Balance Exercise on an Unstable Platform and a Stable Platform on Static Balance

Balance is essential in performing all activities ofdaily living and is an ability to maintain the body inan equilibrium state(1). Ability to control posturalbalance is to maintain the center of gravity(COG) ona platform with minimal postural sway, when stand -ing in a fixed place, moving voluntarily, or respond -ing to force exerted from outside(1, 2). Ability tomaintain balance or recover disturbed balance duringordinary life is related to diverse sensory functions,motor functions, cognitive functions, and psychoso -cial functions, and environmental elements(3, 4).When moving the body on a flat ground and movingon a narrow beam, dynamically different posturalcontrol strategies are used. In addition, when the useof ankle joint strategy is decreased according to thedegree of center of body mass movement, use of thehip joint strategy increases, and when the use of hipjoint strategy is reduced, use of the ankle joint strat-egy rises, which is called a changeable postural con -trol strategy(5). Jandas sensorimotor training developed from anintervention approach to chronic musculoskeletalpain syndrome emphasized the importance of appro -priate functional adjustment of the sensory motorarea, coordinative movement, joint stability, and pro -prioception in exercise pattern balance(6). Proprio-ception is an ability to change muscular contractionthrough immediate response to force exerted fromoutside and play an important role in reducing func -tional instability and redamage. Recovery of proprio -ception in treatment intervention is an important ele -ment in treatment process(7). Sensorimotor traininghas been used as rehabilitation for damage to theankle joints and postural deficits, and previousresearch reported its preventive effect of ankle andknee joint damage. Recently, sensorimotor exercisehas been applied to motor performance as well asrehabilitation and prevention(8-11).

The Study on Respiratory Function, Spirometric Lung Pattern and Fatigue of Elderly in a Facility

The purpose of this study was to investigate spirometric lung pattern, respiratory function and degree of fatigue by lung function tests and fatigue tests of 39 elderly people in a care facility aged 65 and over. The respiratory function tests were used to the Spirovit SP-1 and fatigue tests were used modified Piper fatigue scale(mPFS). Regarding the respiratory function, the FVC was l, the FVC % predicted was %, the was l, the % predicted was %, the /FVC was %, and the fatigue score was . As for the spirometric lung pattern, 19 patients had a restrictive pattern(48.7%), followed by 11 with a mixed pattern(28.2%), 5 with an obstructive pattern( 12.8%), and 4 with a normal pattern(10.3%). Regarding the respiratory function and fatigue by spirometric lung pattern, the FVC and the FVC % predicted of patients with a normal pattern or an obstructive pattern were greater than other groups at a statistically significant level. As for the , that of patients with a normal pattern was significantly higher than others, and for the % predicted, that of patients with a normal pattern or a restrictive pattern was significantly higher(p

A Study on the Transition and Classification of Somatotyping

Experts of medicine, philosophy and psychology found that human somatotypes were related to personality or physical characteristics and classified somatotypes into various forms. This study explored the changes and types of somatotyping methods from Before Christ to present day and identified the status of studies of somatotypes in the area of physical therapy. This study covered the methods applied in various majors with a focus on those provided in books and papers of Heath BH. and Carter JEL. Based on the results, there are officially twelve assessment methods. Currently, the method of Heath & Carter is most widely applied. Somatotypes are studied in many areas. It is actively explored in the area of pain physical therapy, thermotherapy and integumentary physical therapy. Also, the soft tissue physical therapy area seeks interdisciplinary studies. This study found that there were various assessment methods in diverse areas. It is likely that continuous studies will develop new assessment methods. It is hoped that in the area of physical therapy, somatotypes shall be applied more amply.

Effects of Therapeutic Ball Exercise and Hippotherapy for Balance Ability in Elderly

Fall accidents in old age are primarily caused bylowered balancing abilities including bone density,muscular strength, flexibility, power, and stabilityaccording to decreased amounts of exercise, accord-ingly having a very high risk(1). It was reported thatprograms designed to increase balance, flexibility,and response time improved the balance and percep-tual exercise of the elderly and thus contributed totheir stability(2) and that programs based on aerobicexercise, active strength exercise, long walk, postureadjustment, and repeating muscular coordinationexercise increased balance and mobility and reducedand prevented falls(3, 4).There have been many researches to help toincrease balancing abilities, which have much influ-ence on fall. Research efforts have recently beenactive to help the elderly reduce pain and increasestability, flexibility, and muscular strength throughtherapeutic ball exercise with positive effects onhealth, the muscles in the waist, pelvis, and trunk,and balance reported(5, 6). The elderly more and moreexperience a fall accident with aging and desperatelyneed efforts to prevent such an accident. With theincreasing elderly population, it is further importantto raise the quality of life in old age. Illness-basedaging rather than simple aging is emerging as asocial issue beyond the individual economic level.The number of proper exercise programs to help theelderly prevent a fall is low in reality. This studythus set out to investigate the effects of ball exerciseand hippotherapy, which are both a regular and eas-ily applicable exercise enough to induce interest andfun in the elderly and thus settle down as an elderlyexercise program and consists of simple and easymovements, on the balancing abilities of the elderly. The subjects include the male and female elderlyaged 65 or older according to the Elderly Welfare Actand hospitalized in a nursing hospital in Gyeonggi

The Approach of Robot-assisted Gait Therapy for Locomotor Recovery of Chronic Stroke Patients: a Case Report

The recovery of gait function is one of the mostimportant aims for patients with injured centralnervous system such as stroke, spinal cord injuries,and traumatic brain damage. It is a major factorinfluencing return to home or work(1). For patientswith gait problems due to stroke, neurophysiologicaltreatmentconceptsinotherwords,traditionaltreat-ment such as Bobath, PNF, Brunstrom, and Vojtahave been applied. However, recently based on themotorlearningconcept,treatmentsenablingpatientsto learn motor skills through task-specific traininginvolving repetition of movements that are mostsimilar to motions ultimately wanted by patientshave been highlighted(2). Body weight-supportedtreadmill training(BWSTT) is a representative treat-mentexamplebasedonthismotorlearningtheory.BWSTTfocusesonidealkinematicsaswellastimeaspect when walking and is based on training fornormal physiological walking patterns(3, 4, 5). Apatient may supplement deficits in equilibriumresponsesbywearingaharness,complementdeficitsfromparesisofthelegsthroughweightsupport,andreintantwalkingwithmotor-driventreadmill(6).There have been reports from systematic analysesthat gait functions of patients with neurologicaldamage such as stroke or spinal cord injuries haveimproved(7, 8). Also there have been reports thatcomparedtotraditionaltherapeuticexercise,BWSTThas shown similar effects to improve gait and motorfunction(9) while some reports have maintained thatin experiments on control of cortex and spinal cordby motor learning and task-specific training, thetask-specific training has been more effective thantraditionaltherapeuticexercise(10,11).However, in order to help patients with gait prob-lems to receive repetitive gait training safely basedontheapplicationofnormalgaitpatterns,physical