Fascial Stretch Therapy: The Effectiveness in Increasing Unilateral Active & Passive Hip Flexion

This 2018 thesis was written for my Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Health & Leisure with Massage final project. Below is the abstract;

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) on increasing active and passive hip flexion in the contralateral hip. Twenty-three individuals aged 18 – 57 took part (20 females and 3 males) all of which had no previous experience with FST. Individuals were active and took part in moderate to vigorous physical activity at least once per week. Participants were healthy and did not present with any orthopaedic conditions, nor had in the past 6 months. Active and passive hip flexion was measured using a two-arm goniometer on the right and left hip. Each participant received FST on the right hip for 20 minutes then measurements were retaken on the right and left hip for comparison. Repeated measures of active right hip flexion (post-therapy) presented with significant improvements (p = 0.000), with a relatable response on the left hip (p = 0.001). Passive right hip flexion data produced similar data (p = 0.002), with passive left hip flexion producing the greatest margin from (p = 0.045) in comparison to the other data.

Results demonstrated significant increases from pre-to-post-therapy in the untreated limb; giving evidence of a cross communication from the right hip to the left hip through FST. The use of FST as an indirect therapy method to increase hip flexion shows potential as a means to improve ROM imbalances and release facial restrictions that are causing pain.