Short-Term Effects of Whole-Body Vibration on Postural Control in Unilateral Chronic Stroke Patients

Abstract

The short-term effects of whole-body vibration as a novel method of somatosensory stimulation on postural control were investigated in 23 chronic stroke patients. While standing on a commercial platform, patients received 30-Hz oscillations at 3 mm of amplitude in the frontal plane. Balance was assessed four times at 45-min intervals with a dual-plate force platform, while quietly standing with the eyes opened and closed and while performing a voluntary weight-shifting task with visual feedback of center-of-pressure movements. Between the second and third assessments, four repetitions of 45-sec whole-body vibrations were given. The results indicated a stable baseline performance from the first to the second assessment for all tasks. After the whole-body vibration, the third assessment demonstrated a reduction in the root mean square (RMS) center-of-pressure velocity in the anteroposterior direction when standing with the eyes closed (P < 0.01), which persisted during the fourth assessment. Furthermore, patients showed an increase in their weight-shifting speed at the third balance assessment (P < 0.05) while their precision remained constant. No adverse effects of whole-body vibration were observed. It is concluded that whole-body vibration may be a promising candidate to improve proprioceptive control of posture in stroke patients.

Effect of combined treatment with focused mechanoacoustic vibration and pharmacological therapy on bone mineral density and muscle strength in post-menopausal women

“…Among them, the vibration therapy has emerged over the last decades as a promising non-invasive treatment for osteoporosis. In fact -through a mechanism not yet univocally clarified -high-frequency vibratory stimulation is able to significantly stimulate osteogenesis in animal models (11)(12)(13)(14), and studies in human indicate that it improves bone mineral density (BMD), muscle strength and proprioception, particularly in people with osteoporosis or those with motor impairment from neuromuscular diseases of various etiologies (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of combined treatment with focused mechano-acoustic vibration and pharmacological therapy on BMD and muscle strength in post-menopausal women.…”

Mobility, Balance, and Muscle Strength Adaptations to Short-Term Whole Body Vibration Training Plus Oral Creatine Supplementation in Elderly Women

“…2017; 8(1):e36793. 5 found that WBV training might improve balance and posture control of those who suffer from heart attack, Parkinson disease, and multiple sclerosis (18,41). In our previous study, we found that WBW training and creatine supplementation did not affect the static and dynamic balance in elder men in the short-term (42).…”

Tilt vibratory exercise improves pain, strength and somatosensory function in patients with fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial

“…Previous studies have reported beneficial effects of WBV in a variety of populations, for example, the elderly [9,[44][45][46] , untrained females [47,48] postmenopausal women [49,50] , Parkinson's disease [51][52][53] , multiple sclerosis [54] and stroke [55][56][57] .…”