Case StudiesAn investigation into the immediate effects of pelvic taping on hamstring eccentric force in an elite male sprinter – A case report
Section snippets
Background
Hamstring injuries are common in elite sports requiring kicking, high speed running and sprinting, and are an important cause of missed training and competition. A series of international track and field competitions from 2007 to 2015 demonstrated that muscle injury was the most frequently occurring injury, representing 40.9% of all injuries, and among these, the hamstring was the most commonly affected muscle (Edouard, Branco, & Alonso, 2016). Bicep femoris is commonly reported to be the most
History
The athlete in this case study is a 25 year old elite sprinter who has competed for Great Britain at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team, and the individual 200 m. His past medical history includes hamstring muscle injuries to bicep femoris in both thighs confirmed with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Grade 1 proximal semimembranosus muscle-tendon junction injury, Left limb 2013; Grade 1 proximal semimembranosus muscle-tendon junction injury Right limb 2012). He
Screening results
The initial screening tests all took place on the same day, the results of which are shown in Table 2, Table 3. The subsequent Nordbord eccentric strength assessments were then conducted on 3 separate occasions 1, 2 and 5 weeks following the initial test day.
The main findings from the musculoskeletal and lumbar-pelvic motor control assessments were the presence of a positive FADIR test and reduced lumbar-pelvic stability measured by the leg lower and the left sided ASLR.
The testing of this
Discussion
The main finding of this case study is the positive impact that EPC had on improving hamstring strength asymmetry in an elite athlete with previous history of hamstring injury. In the taped condition, asymmetry reduced from 17% to 0.96%. Reducing asymmetry is potentially an important aspect of hamstring injury prevention and management, given that the risk of hamstring injury has been shown to increase by 30% for every 10% increase in imbalance (Bourne et al., 2015). EPC may therefore provide
Conclusion
This case study describes the positive impact of EPC on hamstring eccentric force production in an elite male sprinter, discussing the application of the Nordbord to measure eccentric hamstring strength, and how results from this can be interpreted in conjunction with commonly used musculoskeletal, and lumbar pelvic motor control tests. This athlete demonstrated reduced lumbar pelvic load transfer as assessed by the ASLR, and a 20% eccentric strength asymmetry. Following a period of
Conflict of interest
None Declared.
Ethical approval
None Declared.
Funding
None Declared.
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