These results suggest that a single session of whole body vibration training can reduce ankle plantarflexion spasticity in chronic stroke patients, thereby potentially increasing ambulatory capacity.

Patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) find that use of elastic knee sleeves gives them partial pain relief and a greater sense of joint stability. However, the scientific effects of knee OA patients wearing braces are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of knee sleeves on static and dynamic balance in knee OA patients. Fifty patients with knee OA were enrolled in the study and all subjects were randomly divided into two groups. Initially, subjects in group A did not wear a neoprene sleeve while receiving balance tests but then wore them to be re-tested. Subjects in group B did just the reverse procedure. In this investigation, an instrument (KAT 2000; Breg Inc., Vista, CA, USA), which quantified motor control performance of the lower extremities was used and balance scores from the KAT 2000 software were obtained. The results revealed that the scores of patients wearing braces were significantly lower than those of patients without braces (p < 0.05).The finding of this study demonstrated that knee OA patients wearing knee sleeves could experience increased balance ability in both static and dynamic conditions. The improvement might prevent knee OA patients from falling down and increase their sense of security during physical activities.

Spasticity associated with abnormal muscle tone is a common motor disorder following stroke, and the spastic ankle may affect ambulatory function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term effect of dynamic-repeated-passive ankle movements with weight loading on ambulatory function and spastic hypertonia of chronic stroke patients. In this study, 12 chronic stroke patients with ankle spasticity and inefficient ambulatory ability were enrolled. Stretching of the plantar-flexors of the ankle in the standing position for 15 minutes was performed passively by a constant-speed and electrically powered device. The following evaluations were done before and immediately after the dynamic-repeated-passive ankle movements. Spastic hypertonia was assessed by the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS; range, 0-4), Achilles tendon reflexes test (DTR; range, 0-4), and ankle clonus (range, 0-5). Improvement in ambulatory ability was determined by the timed up-and-go test (TUG), the 10-minute walking test, and cadence (steps/minute). In addition, subjective experience of the influence of ankle spasticity on ambulation was scored by visual analog scale (VAS). Subjective satisfaction with the therapeutic effect of spasticity reduction was evaluated by a five-point questionnaire (1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = acceptable, 4 = good, 5 = very good). By comparison of the results before and after intervention, these 12 chronic stroke patients presented significant reduction in MAS and VAS for ankle spasticity, the time for TUG and 10-minute walking speed (p < 0.01). The cadence also increased significantly (p < 0.05). In addition, subjective satisfaction with the short-term therapeutic effect was mainly good (ranging from acceptable to very good). In conclusion, 15 minutes of dynamic-repeated-passive ankle joint motion exercise with weight loading in the standing position by this simple constant-speed machine is effective in reducing ankle spasticity and improving ambulatory ability.