title: Effects of skin stretching without joint movement on skin extensibility of rats.
abstract: [Purpose] This study examined the possibility of maintaining skin extensibility by stretching the skin involved in disuse joint contracture. [Subjects and Methods] The study was carried out using 18 male Wistar rats. The rats were randomly allocated to three groups. The control group received no intervention for the right ankle joint, the fixation group received one-week's fixation of the right ankle joint in maximum plantar-flexion with a cast, and the stretching group received continuous stretching of the skin over the Achilles tendon for 30 min once daily for one week with the cast removed during the skin stretching, but the joint was not moved. On the final day, skin extensibility of the skin from the posterior aspect of the ankle joint was determined using a tensile strength tester and a length-tension curve. [Results] Statistical analysis of the data revealed significant differences in the skin extensibility among the three groups. The stretching group showed significantly greater improvement of skin extensibility than the fixation group. [Conclusion] Skin stretching without moving the joint was demonstrated to be useful for maintaining skin extensibility.
authors: Department of Rehabilitation Science, Osaka Health Science University, Japan.
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Tasaka
authors: Graduate School of Comprehensive Scientific Research, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan; Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health and Welfare, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan.
authors: Takeya
authors: T
authors: Ono
authors: Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hiroshima Cosmopolitan University, Japan.
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Ishikura
authors: Graduate School of Comprehensive Scientific Research, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan.
authors: Kazuki
authors: K
authors: Aihara
authors: Graduate School of Comprehensive Scientific Research, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan.
authors: Yuta
authors: Y
authors: Sato
authors: Graduate School of Comprehensive Scientific Research, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan.
authors: Tomohiro
authors: T
authors: Matsumoto
authors: Faculty of Rehabilitation, Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University, Japan.
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Morifuji
authors: Graduate School of Comprehensive Scientific Research, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan; Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health and Welfare, Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Japan.
authors: Sadaaki
authors: S
authors: Oki
keywords: Extensibility; Rat; Skin