The Effects of Indirect Treatment of Proprioceptive Neurosmuscular Facilitation

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this research was to clarify the effects of indirect treatment of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). [Subjects] The subjects were thirty healthy male volunteers. Their mean age was 21.1 ± 1.1 years. [Methods] This study examined the extension force of the contralateral lower limb when manual isometric resistance exercise was performed by an upper limb at the start, middle, and final positions of PNF and shoulder flexion. A hand-held dynamometer measured the extension force of the contralateral lower limb. [Results] The extension force of the contralateral lower limb increased when an isometric resistance exercise was performed by an upper limb at the final position of the flexion-abduction-external rotation pattern of PNF. [Discussion] The extension force of the contralateral lower limb increased more with PNF movement than in shoulder flexion of an upper limb. The result suggests that isometric resistance exercise by an upper limb at the final position of PNF emphasized the "continue movement" and the systemic balance reaction occurred toward the side of the contralateral lower limb. This finding, therefore, could be applied to the treatment of patients having difficulty with moving their own lower limbs.