It has long been understood that positions of dynamic valgus can create abnormal stress or strain at the knee; thus increasing the likelihood of knee injury. This is especially true in athletes whose sports require jumping, planting, pivoting, shifting, cutting and change of direction. It has also been understood that lumbopelvic drop, which is associated with gluteal weakness can increase the likelihood of knee valgus with dynamic activity. In a systematic review published this year in the Journal of Orthopedic Sports Medicine, researchers cite knee valgus and sagittal/coronal trunk alignment as biomechanical movement patterns which directly correlate to increased incidences of ACL injury.
Winback’s Care+ programs are hands free programs designed specifically to target different types of tissues with its Hi-EMS current to reach different rehabilitative, performance and functional goals. The Fit+ program allows clinicians to target core and gluteal structures to improve contractility and muscle activation with the goal of improving trunk and gluteal strength/neuromuscular control. Using the Kinotek Markerless Motion Capture System, I began to collect data on patients pre and post Winback Fit+ treatments, and the immediate results surprised me. My goal was to assess how the Fit+ program could influence gluteal control and recruitment during a lateral step down test by measuring the degree decrease in lumbopelvic drop for the first 3 patients I performed this with.
As a Physical Therapist, I frequently am looking for ways to better objectively track patient progress, improve outcomes and improve patient compliance. Being able to show an objective gain in merely 20 minutes is something that excited both myself and my patients. Though the degrees were small, for some of these subjects this was an increase of 100% or more.
Though I only performed these treatments with the glute strengthening Fit+ program setup, I am hopeful that through continued data collection we can show these programs can be used to also enhance athletes trunk/core control as well. In the hopes of eliminating all outside variables, I had these programs run totally passive. In other words, there was no other movement or exercise performed in conjunction with the Fit+ program. I suspect that because of the effect of TECAR therapy and tissue resistance, performing gluteal exercises in conjunction with this program would have further enhanced gluteal strength and control. The commitment to innovation by Winback is what will continue to drive the world of rehabilitation forward, better enhancing clinical ability and patient outcomes.
Written by Denis Donovan, DPT
