Influence of sports activity, thoracolumbar fascia morphology and myofascial release treatment on lumbar microcirculation: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract

Inflammatory processes in the thoracolumbar fascia lead to thickening, compaction, and fibrosis and are thought to contribute to the development of nonspecific low back pain (nLBP). The blood circulation of fascial tissue may play a critical role in this process, as it may promote hypoxia-induced inflammation. This study examined the influence of thoracolumbar fascia morphology (TLFM), sports activity (SA), body mass index (BMI), pain, and a set of myofascial release (MFR) techniques on blood flow data (BFD) of lumbar myofascial tissue. This study was a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Thirty pain-free subjects (40.5 ± 14.1 years) were randomly assigned to two groups treated with MFR or a placebo intervention. Correlations between pain, SA, BMI, and TLFM were calculated at baseline. The effects of TFLM and MFR on BFD were determined. There were strong correlations between pain (r = -0.648), SA (d = 0.681), BMI (r = -0.798), and TLFM. Blood flow was significantly different between disorganized and organized TLFM (p < 0.0001). The MFR group had a significant increase in blood flow after treatment (31.6%) and at follow-up (48.7%) compared with the placebo group. Circulatory restrictions caused by disorganized TFLM could lead to hypoxia-induced inflammation, which likely results in pain and impaired proprioceptive function and contributes to the development of nLBP. The deformation and altered morphology associated with dysfunction of blood vessels and free nerve endings could be positively affected by the intervention in this study.