Effects of whole body vibration on spinal proprioception in healthy individuals

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is a common health problem with high reoccurrence rate. As patients with LBP are often found to be proprioception impaired, new proprioception exercises should be explored. Whole body vibration (WBV) has been proven to improve muscle function and proprioception. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of WBV on spinal proprioception when WBV was administered in standing and seated postures. METHODS: Twenty healthy male individuals (mean age: 23.2±1.2 years) were recruited and randomly assigned to two WBV groups: WBV in standing or WBV in seated posture. Their body posture, lumbar repositioning ability, maximum reaching distance and lumbopelvic coordination during dynamic motion in flexion and extension were assessed before, immediately after, 30 minutes after and 1 hour after 5 minutes of WBV (18Hz, 6mm amplitude) exposure. A Mixed ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of group and time factors on these four outcome measures. RESULTS: There were no significant interaction (group and time) and group effects on all outcome measures. Participants were found to have significant different time effect on body posture, lumbar repositioning ability, maximum reaching distance and lumbopelvic coordination. CONCLUSIONS: WBV could significantly improve spinal proprioception including body posture, lumbar repositioning ability, maximum reaching distance and lumbopelvic coordination in healthy individuals. WBV protocol is recommended to confirm its clinical application for improving spinal proprioception and its effects on patients with LBP is warranted.