Health and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, University of the West of Scotland, Hamilton, ML3 0JB, UK.
Eur Spine J. 2012 Dec;21(12):2688-92. doi: 10.1007/s00586-012-2377-x. Epub 2012 May 29.
Everyday activities such as walking may elicit spinal shrinkage in an order of magnitude that has been related to lower back pain. The present study aims to compare the effects of unloaded treadmill walking with walking carrying loads representing everyday shopping tasks.
Walking tasks were performed on seven healthy males and motion analysis was used to track four reflective markers at 100 Hz, dividing the spine into three segments. Static data was collected in 5-min intervals over a 30-min period.
Total spinal length and lumbar segment decreased with respect to time (p < 0.001). Load affected the percentage length change at each spinal segment (p < 0.005), with the lumbar segment showing greatest height loss at the highest load. The upper and lower thoracic segments showed greater anterior lean with the heavier loads (p = 0.000) and the lumbar segment showed the opposite trend (p = 0.000).
Results suggest that the body adopts less anterior lean with an immediate load-bearing demand, to decrease the necessary extension moment generated by the spinal extensors for spinal stability. Further postural alteration in the same direction is observed with prolonged loading. In combination with lumbar spinal shrinkage, such postural changes are likely to increase the loading on the facet joints and subsequently unload the discs which may be beneficial for those with low back pain.
日常活动，如行走，可能会导致脊柱收缩，其程度与下腰痛有关。本研究旨在比较无负荷跑步机行走和行走时携带代表日常购物任务的负荷的影响。
对 7 名健康男性进行行走任务，运动分析用于以 100Hz 的频率跟踪 4 个反射标记物，将脊柱分为三个节段。在 30 分钟的时间内，每隔 5 分钟收集一次静态数据。
总脊柱长度和腰椎节段随时间减少（p <0.001）。负荷影响每个脊柱节段的长度变化百分比（p <0.005），腰椎节段在最高负荷下显示最大的高度损失。较重的负荷使上胸段和下胸段的前倾斜更大（p =0.000），而腰椎段则显示相反的趋势（p =0.000）。
结果表明，身体在有直接承重需求时会减少前倾斜，以减少脊柱伸肌产生的脊柱稳定性所需的伸展力矩。随着加载时间的延长，会观察到相同方向的进一步姿势改变。结合腰椎脊柱收缩，这种姿势变化可能会增加关节突关节的负荷，从而使椎间盘减压，这可能对腰痛患者有益。
