抄録
Exercise in water is used in early rehabilitation programs after shoulder surgery. However, there is no literature on the muscle activities during rehabilitation programs in water. The purpose of this study is to analyze the electromyographic (EMG) activities during static exercise in water and on land. The EMG activities of the rotator cuff muscles were obtained from eight volunteers. Static exercises in ten positions were studied: with 0°,30°,60°and 90°of shoulder flexion and abduction, and three positions of shoulder rotation at 0°abduction. The EMG signals were low-pass filtered, full-wave rectified and integrated for 5 sec. Moreover, the EMG activities were quantified as a percentage of the maximum manual muscle test (% MMT). All the EMG activities in water were very few about 1-11%and decreased when comparing them with those on the ground. In particular, of all the exercises, the supraspinatus activity remarkedly decreased in water. The activity levels of the subscapularis muscle during internal rotation was conspicuously high.
These results suggest that early rehabilitatio n in water after a rotator cuff repair is safe. However, the rotation of a shoulder adduction should be avoided when a subscapularis muscle has been repaired.
