Why the study?
Does the Rolfing pelvic lift increase parasympathetic tone in healthy adult men compared to durational touch and baseline conditions?
Does the Rolfing pelvic lift increase parasympathetic tone in healthy adult men compared to durational touch and baseline conditions?
The Rolfing pelvic lift increases parasympathetic tone in younger healthy men but not in older men, suggesting an age-dependent physiological response to this soft tissue mobilization technique.
May suggest age-specific parasympathetic responses to pelvic lift; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
The effects of a soft tissue mobilization procedure, the Rolfing pelvic lift, on parasympathetic tone was studied in healthy adult men. Parasympathetic tone was assessed 1) by quantifying the amplitude of the respiratory sinus arrhythmia from the heart rate pattern and 2) by measuring heart rate. Heart rate patterns were assessed during the pelvic lift and during the durational touch and baseline control conditions. Two groups of healthy subjects were tested: Group 1 contained 20 subjects aged 26 to 41 years, and Group 2 contained 10 subjects aged 55 to 68 years. In Group 1, the pelvic lift elicited a somatovisceral-parasympathetic reflex characterized by a significant increase in parasympathetic tone relative to durational touch and baseline conditions. Group 2 did not exhibit a parasympathetic change during the pelvic lift. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of pelvic mobilization techniques and may help to explain why these techniques have been clinically successful in treating myofascial pain syndromes and other musculoskeletal dysfunctions characterized by reduced parasympathetic tone and excessive sympathetic activity.
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Cottingham et al. (1988) studied this question.
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