The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 2004/08, 104(8):340. doi: 10.7556/jaoa.2004.104.8.337, type of study: ,ppt,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Full text    (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7556/jaoa.2004.104.8.337/html)

Keywords:

marathon [2]
musculoskeletal dysfunction [6]
OMT [3924]
osteopathic manipulative treatment [3945]
pretest posttest design [240]
sports [158]

Abstract:

Purpose: To study the effects of OMT upon musculoskeletal dysfunction in ultra marathon athletes. Methods: Participants (N = 14 of 15) were observed during the Australian Six Day Race, an international invitational held at Colac (Melbourne), November 16-22, 2003 (MWU IRB approved with Informed Consent). Throughout the duration of the event, 7 runners presented with musculoskeletal complaints. Each of these participants upon their request (1-7 times each) was evaluated for somatic dysfunction and treated using established osteopathic manipulation techniques (muscle energy, direct and indirect myofascial release, high-velocity-low-amplitude). Lap times and treatment times for participating athletes were tabulated. Results: Performance was measured by time-to-complete-one-lap. These lap-by-lap times were averaged over the periods of 4-10 consecutive laps immediately before and after a treatment [before, 286.02 sec/lap, after, 265.45 sec/lap; N=102 lap pairs; paired differences: mean, 20.57 sec; t=2.598; Sig. (Paired samples, T-test, 2-tailed) [0.011]. Of the seven athletes who received treatment, six showed an improvement in running performance. One athlete showed a decrease in performance. Performance also improved as measured by the decrease in the length of rest periods post-treatment compared with the equivalent immediate pre-treatment period [before, 3160.92 sec/rest period, after 1771.31 sec/rest period; N=13 treatments among 7 runners, paired differences: mean, 1389 sec, t=2.515, Sig. (Paired samples T-test, 2-tailed), 0.027]. Conclusion: The use of OMT to treat symptomatic ultra marathon runners results in an enhancement of short-term running performance, amounting to approximately 20 seconds per lap for up to 10 laps immediately following treatment, and a mean reduction of long rest periods (>22 minutes each) of 23.2 minutes.