OBJECTIVE Ankle injuries are common in soccer and may result in ongoing functional deficiency. Ankle-joint prophylactic support is hypothesized to reduce the risk of injury. Analysis of the effects of prophylactic support has so far lacked application to soccer. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to illustrate the effects of tape and brace on selected proprioceptive components and range o...

BACKGROUND Unloading knee braces can provide good short-term pain relief for some patients with unicompartmental osteoarthritis (UOA). Their cost is relatively small compared with surgical interventions. However, no previous studies have reported their use over a duration of 5 years or more. METHODS Up to 8 years of prospective data were collected from 63 patients who presented with UOA. Afte...

STUDY DESIGN Repeated-measures, crossover, double-blinded randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVES To compare the immediate effectiveness of 2 types of counterforce braces in improving pain-free grip strength, pressure pain threshold, and wrist angle during a gripping task in individuals with lateral epicondylalgia. BACKGROUND Sports medicine management of lateral epicondylalgia often includ...

AIM Rehabilitation of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) requires a careful choice from among the possible treatments, such as bracing and exercises, according to the patient's needs. According to the literature, there is little evidence regarding the efficacy of these rehabilitation instruments. During the past few years, a full series of studies has been carried out to investigate their ef...

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and to compare these with the effects of brace or ultrasound (US) treatment in tennis elbow. The study design used was a prospective and randomized, controlled, single-blind trial. Fifty-eight outpatients with lateral epicondylitis (9 men, 49 women) were included in the trial. The patients were divided into th...

This paper presents an optimization-based method for computing a minimal bounding ellipsoid that contains the set of static responses of an uncertain braced frame. Based on a non-stochastic modeling of uncertainty, we assume that the parameters both of brace stiffnesses and external forces are uncertain but bounded. A brace member represents the sum of the stiffness of the actual brace and the ...

Methods Design: retrospective pre-post study. Protocol: in our database we searched for all patients who were prescribed a Sibilla, or Sforzesco Brace, 21h per day or more for AIS, 30-35° Cobb, more than 10 years old at first evaluation, and no previous brace treatment. We compared data from the last visit before beginning the brace, and the first visit after 6 months of brace treatment. Sforze...

A scheme for optimizing configurations in models of skeletal structures is presented. Use of the scheme is illustrated through determination of biomechanically optimal correction of a right-thoracic scoliosis by passive brace and active muscle forces. The locations and magnitudes of the passive brace forces, and the trunk muscle groups and their corresponding contraction intensity magnitudes th...

BACKGROUND Over the last years, evidence has accumulated in support of bracing as an effective treatment option in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. Yet, little information is available on the impact of compliance on the outcome of conservative treatment in scoliotic subjects. The aim of the present study was to prospectively evaluate the association between compliance to brace treatment and ...

BACKGROUND Scoliotic curves do not necessarily stop progressing at skeletal maturity. The factors that influence curve behavior following bracing are not fully determined. Our objectives were to evaluate the loss of the scoliotic curve correction in a cohort of patients treated with bracing during adolescence and to compare the outcomes of 18 versus 23 h of bracing at a mean of 25 years post br...