The University of Miami did a study on the effect of Whole Body Vibration on quadriceps spasticity in individuals with spastic hypertonia due to spinal cord injury. Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) often have involuntary, reflex-evoked muscle activity resulting in spasticity. Vibration may modulate reflex activity thereby decreasing spasticity. The study suggested feasibility of using whole-body vibration (WBV) to decrease quadriceps spasticity in individuals with SCI.
For this study participants were individuals with spastic quadriceps hypertonia due to chronic SCI. Quadriceps spasticity was measured by gravity-provoked stretch before and after a 3 day/week, 12-session WBV intervention. In addition, differences between immediate and delayed within-session effects were quantified. They also assessed response differences between subjects who did and those who did not use antispastic agents.
It was found that there was a significant reduction in quadriceps spasticity after participation in a WBV intervention that persisted for at least eight days. Within a WBV session, spasticity was reduced in the delayed post-WBV test compared to the immediate post-WBV test. The WBV intervention was associated with similar changes in quadriceps spasticity in subjects who did and those who did not use antispastic agents.
Therefore this study shows that whole body vibration may be a useful adjunct to training in those with spasticity.
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