Comparing Hold Relax - Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation and Static Stretching Techniques in Management of Hamstring Tightness

Introduction: Hamstring tightness may result in several conditions of the knee and spine such as anterior knee pain and low back pain. Stretching is a preventive and therapeutic technique in these situations. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of static stretching and hold-relax PNF on increasing the extensibility of hamstring muscles.

Method & material: 51 male subjects in the age range of 18 to 30 entered to the study and randomly assigned to one of the three groups of static stretching, hold-relax PNF and control. The extensibility of hamstring was assessed by Active Knee Extension Test (AKET). The treatments in both static stretching and PNF groups were applied for six sessions during the study.

Findings: At the end of the treatment period, we found a significant difference in hamstring extensibility among the study groups. Hamstring extensibility was significantly larger in both treatment groups compared to the control group (p

Conclusion: The present study suggests that hold relax - PNF is more effective than static stretching in increasing the hamstring extensibility. Therefore, application of this technique and education of that may be more useful for either patients with hamstring contracture or athletes.