Efficacy of Postural Reeducation in Elite Gymnasts With Back Pain

Introduction: Low back pain is a musculoskeletal disorder that is associated with symptoms such as pain, limitation of joint range and postural problems in athletes. Methods: The study design is a randomized controlled clinical trial with a minimum of 35 elite gymnasts with back pain. Two postural treatments will be implemented, Mezieres Method and Isostretching to verify if there is improvement of back pain in gymnasts and to compare both procedures. Discussion: This trial could generate a greater understanding of the importance of posture related to low back pain and its possible treatments.

A randomized controlled clinical trial with two groups (intervention and placebo) will be implemented. The intervention group will have the Mezieres technique as postural treatment while the placebo group will follow a total of 6 isostretching positions. In total, the two treatments with 30 minutes and duration or with a frequency of 2 weekly sessions will be implemented for a period of 12 weeks. All treatments will be performed by the same certified therapist and with a minimum of 5 years of experience in postural treatments. The measurements will be made immediately after the first session, in 2 weeks, 6 weeks and in the last week of intervention by a blind researcher who did not participate in the treatments, but with experience in this field.

This intervention includes a total of three postures of the Mézières therapy. Specifically, the postures maintained for 12 weeks consist of: supine dancer; in supine position with the upper extremities abducted 120 °; and dancer in a sitting position.

This study aims to follow a total of 6 isostretching postures, the most similar to the Mezieres method. In each of the isostretching positions, if it is symmetric, 3, 6 or 9 repetitions will be performed and if it is asymmetric, 2, 4, or 8 repetitions.

Measured with Oswestry questionaire. It consists of 10 categories. Each category consists of 6 items scored from 0 to 5 with the first statement scoring 0 until the last statement scoring 5.

Measured with Borg Scale, which include a rating of 6 perceiving "no exertion at all" to 20 perceiving a "maximal exertion" of effort.

Measured with stabilometry with a duration of 50 seconds with Lizard posturometric and stabilometric platform

Inclusion Criteria: Elite gymnastic athletes with low back pain Active participation in the national competition Practice at least three times a week for 60 minutes Minimum training time of 7 hours a week Exclusion Criteria: Gymnast whom suffer from chronic disease or acute musculoskeletal injury Herniated disc Spondylolisthesis