Research Report Effects o f Massage on Alpha Motoneuron Excitability The purpose of this study was t o investigate the speci jici ty of the eff ects of m assage @et ris sc age) o n spinal m oto na rro n excitability as m easured by changes i n the peak-to,peak amp litude of H-reflex recordings. H-repexes (and M-responses) were record edf rom the distal aspects of the @ht triceps surae muscle of 8 men and 8 women, aged 2 0 to 37years, with no neummusc ular impairments of the lower extremities. The H-reflexes were recorded during Jive control and four e x p a a m - tal coruiitions (20 trials at each condition). The control conditions (CI-C5)pre- ceded and followed each experimental condition, prouidiqg a measure of the sta- bility of the H-reflex. Each experimental condition coms ted of a 4-m inut e period of mussage of the ipsi lateral and contralateral tri ceps surae a nd hamstring mus- cle groups (ITS, CTS, IHS an d CHS, respecti vel y). The me an peak-to-peak amp li- tude of the H-reflex was foun d to be stable (range=I.91-1.95 mV) across the Jive control conditions. H-refl ex amplitudes recorded during the experimental condi- tions indicate that massage of the ITS resulted in a reduction of the H-repex (0.83 mV) in comparison with the pretest conm l condition (CI) and the remaining experimental con ditions (range= I.77-2.23 mV). This dt jimc e was signijicant, and subsequent Newm an-Keuls tes ts indicated a specijicity of the effects of massage o n the muscle group being massaged. /Sullivan SJ, Williams IRT, Seaborne DE, Morelli M. Ef fe ct s of massage o n alpha m oton eumn excitability. Pbys Thm 1991;71:555-560.1 Key Words: H-reflex, Massage, M oto ne um n excitability, Triceps surae muscle. Massage is one of the oldest therapeu- ti fically documented e vidence to sup- tic modalities availabl e to physical port the use of massage as a them - therapists.1~2 lthough therapists fre- peutic intervention in the alteration of quently report empirical changes in the reflex activity of muscles. Some the refltx activity of muscles resulting authorit ies3.4 claim that petrissage, o r from m:assage, here is a lack of scien- massage in which the muscles are S J Sullivan, PhD, is A ssociat e P rofessor, Department of Exercise Scienc e, Concordia U niversity, 7141 Sher brook e S t W, Montreal, Queb ec, Canada H4B 1R6, and is affiliated with the Centre d e Reche r- che , Institut de Readaptation de Montreal, MontrCal , Qu ebec, Canada H3S 2J4, and L'Ecole de Read- aptation, Facult6 de Med ecine, Universi te de Montreal, Montr eal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3J7. Addres s all correspo nden ce to Dr Sullivan at the fir st address. LRT Williams, PhD, is Director, Motor Control and Learning Laboratory, University of Otago, Dune- din, New Zealand. DE Seabor ne, MSc, is Associate Pro fessor , Divis ion of Physiotherapy, L'Ecol e de R eadaptation, Fac- ul tC de M edecin e, Unive rsite de Montreal. M Morelli, MSc, is enrolled in the Doctor of Medicine program, Faculte de Medecine, Universite de Montreal. This study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of Concordia University This article was submitted March 20, 1990, and wa s accepted March 27, 1991 S John Sulllvan Leslle RT Willlams Derek E Seaborne Moreno Morelll kneaded, can ex ert an inhibitory effect on the motoneurons of the muscle being massaged. There is obviously a need to substantiate such claims. Two recent studi es 5g6 con duct ed in ou r laboratory have investigated the question of whether local massage can bring about a change in the level of spinal moton euron activity in neu- rologically nonimpaired subjects. In these studies, we investigated the ef- fects of petrissagez on spinal mo- toneuron act ivi ty by measuring changes in H-reflex amplitude, an indirect measure of motoneuron ex- citability.' Short periods (3 an d 6 min- utes) of massage were applied to the triceps surae muscle. H-reflex record- ings were obtained from the same muscle before, during, and following Physicall TherapyNolume 71, Number 8/August 1991 555/ 11
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Effects of Massage on Alpha Motoneuron Excitability
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8/6/2019 Effects of Massage on Alpha Motoneuron Excitability
2 Tappan FM. Healing Massage Techniques:AStudy of Eastern a n d W estern Methods Reston,Va: Reston Publishing Company Inc; 1978.
3 Hollis M. Massage for Therapists Oxford,England: Blackwell Scientific Publications Ltd;1987.
4 Tappan FM. Healing Massage Techniques:Holktic , Classic and E m q i n g Methods. 2nded. East Norwalk, Conn: Appleton & Lange;1988.
5 Morelli M, Seabome DE, Sullivan SJ.Changes in H-reflex amplitude during massageof triceps surae in healthy subjects.Journal ofOrthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy.1990;14:5559.
6 Morelli M, Seaborne DE, Sullivan SJ.H-reflex modulation during manual musclemassage of human triceps surae. Arch PhysMed Rehabil. In press.
7 Schieppati M. The Ho h a nn reflex: a meansof assessing spinal reflex excitability and itsdescending control in man. Pmg Neumbiol.1987;28:345-376.
8 Kukulka CG, Beckman SM, Holte JB, Hop-penwonh PK. Effects of intermittent tendonpressure on alpha motoneuron excitability.Phys Ther. 1986;66:1091-1094.
9 Leone JA, Kukulka CG. Effects of tendonpressure on alpha motoneuron excitability inpatients with stroke. Phys Ther. 1988;68:475480.
10 Bklanger AY, Morin S, Pkpin P, et al. Man-ual muscle tapping decreases soleus H-reflexamplitude in control subjects. PhysiotherapyCanada . 1989;41:192-196.
11 Eke-Okoro ST. The H-reflex studied in thepresence of alcohol, caffeine, force and fatigue.Electmmyogr Clin Neumphysiol. 1982;22:579-
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12 Morelli M, Sullivan SJ, Seaborne DE. Com-parison of human triceps surae H-reflexes ob-tained from mid and distal recording sites.Electmmyogr Clin Neumphysiol. 1990;30:181-186.
13 Mathieu PA, Kemp F, Goyette M, et al. Utili-sation d'un micro-ordinateur pour la mesuredu reflexe-H. In: Proceedings of the CanadianMedical an d Biological Engineering Congress.1988:75-76.
14 Wolf SL, MinkwitzJA Topical anaesthetics:effects on the Achilles tendon and H-reflexes,I: able-bodied subjects. Arch Phys Med Rehabil.
1989;70:531-536.15 Hayes KC, Sullivan SJ. Tonic neck reflexinfluence on tendon and Hoffmann reflexes inman. Electromyogr Clin Neumphysiol.1976;16:251-261.
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16 / 560 Physical Therapyll70lume 71, Number 8/August 1991