Effects of massage therapy on trapezius muscle viscoelastic parameters following prolonged sitting

• Main Author: Liaw, Ying Hong
• Other Authors: Swarup Mukherjee
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70335
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) affect people from all walks of life and its increasing prevalence is a huge concern. Prolonged sitting is proven to be one of the greatest risk factor, however, the proposed mechanism behind the effects of prolonged sitting on UEMSDs was not sufficiently supported by empirical data. Massage therapy is a popular method to alleviate musculoskeletal symptoms. However, there are no literature studying the effects of massage therapy on upper extremity muscle viscoelastic parameters following prolonged lowlevel muscle contraction. Hence, this study aims to investigate (1) the effects of prolonged sitting on trapezius muscle viscoelastic parameters and (2) the effects of massage therapy on trapezius muscle viscoelastic parameters following prolonged sitting. 14 healthy, sedentary males were recruited for this study. Data collection takes place once a week for 4 consecutive weeks. Withinparticipants pre-post test design and between-participants test design were adopted to study the effects of prolonged sitting and massage therapy respectively. Participants remain seated uninterrupted for 1.5 hours on an office chair with a desk. Following that, participants in the massage group underwent a 20-minute massage session. Participants in the control group had no treatment. Viscoelastic parameters of the upper and middle trapezius were measured at the start of the experiment, after 1.5 hours of prolonged sitting and after the 20-minute massage session using the MyotonPRO. Results showed that prolonged sitting led to adverse effects on some of the viscoelastic parameters in the trapezius and massage is effective in improving these viscoelastic properties.