Authors: Muntaser S. Ahmad, Azzam Arab.
Background: Calf muscle tearing is one of the most sudden pain that affects the calf, foot, or thigh area. It can be diagnosed through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and treated through physiotherapy interventions. The aim of the current study is to evaluate and assess the efficiency of physiotherapy interventions using Myofascial release and Stretching exercises in calf muscle treatment, and verification this effectiveness by traditional physiotherapy measurement tools and MRI.
Methods: The study included 30 patients with at least one degree tearing of the calf muscles. All patients were undergoing leg MRI imaging using a 1.5 Tesla MRI. The Visual analogue scales (VAS) and Functional disability scale for ankle (FADI) were assessed before the patients were offered therapies. Then the patients were randomly distributed into two groups: the first group was 15 patients who were given Myofascial release treatment, while the second group was 15 patients who were given treatment using Stretching exercises. After treatment, the efficacy of treatment was checked for patients by different tools: VAS, FADI, and MR imaging. Patients' outcomes before and after treatment were compared.
Results: The results showed that both Myofascial release and Stretching exercises had the same effect on patients. Comparison between pre- and post-score within groups for VAS, FADI, and MRI findings. Whereas, all P value values were less than 0.05 for all samples. When comparing the techniques presented for treatment between the two groups, the results showed that there were no differences between the two techniques in each of the VAS, FADI, and MRI findings, where the P-values post-treatment were 0.644, 0.112, and 0.831, respectively.
Conclusion: Myofascial release and Stretching exercises can be used to treat calf muscle tears in the sub-acute stages.
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