RESULT OF THE RESEARCH ON THE

“protocollofrancesconi”

PROJECT OF THE STUDY

20 people (11 males and 9 females) suffering from lumbago were asked to complete 3 tests (VAS, ROLAND MORRIS and TSK) before and after having carried out for month the exercises of Antalgic postural gymnastic as prescribed by the “protocollofrancesconi”.

OBJECTIVES

To show that people suffering from chronic lumbago who follow the postural-antalgic exercises of the “protocollofrancesconi” obtain:

- A significant reduction in painful symptoms
- A reduction of the disability
- Less perception of the disability and problems regarding their condition

CRITERIA OF INCLUSION

- People suffering from chronic lumbago without symptoms of sciatica for more than 3 mouths( with protusion of the disc L4-L5 and L5-S1 or only L4-L5 or L5-S1.
- None of the people had followed postural gymnastic treatment previously
- Age range =  from 20  to 60 years

METHODS

The people had to complete the 3 tests ( VAS, ROLAND MORRIS, TSK) before beginning the exercises of the “protocollofrancesconi”.

The "protocollofrancesconi" is a postural gymnastic programme and it is based on exercises of:

1. Respirations
2. Stretching of the rear muscles of the leg
3. Retroversion and anteversion movement of the pelvis
4. Mobilization of the dorsal backbone in prone quadrupedal position standing on hands
5. Stretching of the gluteal muscles
6. Stretching of the rear muscles of the thigh and the leg
7. Sliding
8. Stretching of the femoral quadriceps
9. Strengthening of abdominal muscles in isometry
10. Abdominal strengthening of oblique muscles
11. Auto-stretching in supine
12. Auto-stretching from sitting position
13. Strengthening of dorsolumbar muscles
14. Mobilization of the dorsolumbar backbone in prone quadrupedal position standing on forearms
15. Stretching of the thigh adductor muscles
16. Stretching of dorsolumbar muscles with glutei on heels.

 The “protocollofrancesconi” has a gradual and progressive structure developing over 4 weeks:

FIRST WEEK - 4 exercises (from 1 to 4) to be performed every day during the first week.
SECOND WEEK - 8 exercises (from 1 to 8) to be performed 3 times during the second week (every other day).
THIRD WEEK - 12 exercises (from 1 to 12)  to be performed 3 times during the third week (every other day).
FOURTH WEEK - 16 exercises (from 1to 16)  to be performed 3 times during the fourth week (every other day).

At the end of the month in which the people completed the exercise of the “protocollofrancesconi” they were asked to complete the same tests carried out before starting the exercise of the “protocollofrancesconi”.

INTERPRETATION OF THE TESTS

VAS tests: The VAS test serves to evaluate the intensity of pain. There is a scale of  evaluation from 1 to 10 (0= no pain; 10 severe unbearable pain).

ROLAND MORRIS test: serves the quantify the level of disability. There are 24 questions. A person describes his condition in daily life when he had back pain. 24 out of 24 means the maximum level of disability, while 0 out of 24 means the complete absence of disability.

TSK test: serves the evaluate beliefs, thoughts and prejudices regarding vertebral pain. It goes from a maximum of 51 points (maximum perception of disability regarding the problems of one’s condition) to 0 points (no problem regarding the condition of the person who suffers from back pain).

 RESULT

 A mathematical average of the range of the result of each test was determined. In the Vas test, the average of the obtained results before and after the test showed a significant reduction of the pain (-3,95).
Also ROLAND MORRIS test showed a significant reduction of disability (- 4,7) like that of the TSK  (- 4,5).

CONCLUSION

The exercises of postural Antalgic gymnastic are an important aid in the treatment of lumbago. In particular, those of the “protocollofrancesconi” have confirmed that, if carried out accurately and consistently, they significantly reduce the symptoms of pain of people suffering from chronic lumbago and reduce the resulting disability.

Bibliography 
D. Bonaiuti – Le scale di misura nelle malattie muscolo scheletriche – I &V Publisher
M. Monticone, E. Giovanazzi – Scale di valutazione , ICF e Medicina Riabilitativa : correlazioni in ambito di livello di partecipazione sociale, abilità lavorativa e stato di salute. L’esempio della lombalgia cronica.
C. Signorelli – Elementi di metodologia epidemiologica – società editrice universo -Roma

“Mi fanno male tutti i muscoli!”. Quante volte si sentono, in palestra, affermazioni di questo tipo.
“ Stai tranquillo, è l’acido lattico. Tra qualche giorno l’avrai smaltito ed il dolore passerà.” Spesso la spiegazione, da parte dell’istruttore ed anche del medico, è esattamente questa. I luoghi comuni, nel campo dell’allenamento sportivo e del fitness, sono proprio duri a morire.
In questo breve  articolo cercherò di spiegare come non ci sia correlazione tra dolore ai muscoli ed acido lattico.

“Dimagrire “ non significa semplicemente perdere peso. “Dimagrire“ deve essere inteso come perdita di grasso, senza intaccare la massa magra, costituita principalmente dai muscoli, e senza perdita di acqua. Qualsiasi dieta ipocalorica, da sola, non risolve il problema. Nel tentativo di dimagrire riducendo il numero di calorie introdotte con l’alimentazione, si perde in realtà poco tessuto adiposo e parecchio tessuto muscolare. L’organismo sottoposto a restrizione calorica tende ben presto a ripristinare l’omeostasi raggiunta precedentemente,  attraverso un rallentamento del metabolismo di base e riacquista in breve tutto il peso smaltito, non in muscoli ma in grasso.

La piscina rappresenta non solo ambiente per il nuoto, bensì mezzo insostituibile per soddisfare le esigenze più diverse. L’attività in piscina è infatti ricchissima e varia. L’acqua, grazie alle sue caratteristiche, consente di praticare una moltitudine di movimenti i quali, con o senza l’utilizzo di piccoli attrezzi, possiedono sempre una valenza metabolica..Vediamo dunque, in sintesi, le principali peculiarità che rendono l’elemento acqua così speciale: