Vol. 6, Issue 8, Part E (2020)

Abstract
Objective: This study was undertaken to see the effect of Myofascial Release Technique on pain, hamstring tightness and functional disability in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Background: Osteoarthritis is degenerative joint condition. The primary symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are joint pain, stiffness, limitation and movement. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in India is 28.7%. Where the conventional treatment mostly emphasize on pain reduction and muscle strengthening and very less on muscle stretching. Hamstring muscle stretching plays an important role in relieving pain and improving functional disability in O.A knee patients. Myofascial release is of the technique to improve muscle flexibility which is here used over hamstring muscles with conventional treatment. Outcome Measures: Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Active Knee extension Test (AKT), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Method: The study included 30 subjects having O.A. knee with hamstring tightness with 15 subjects in each group. Group A received Myofascial Release Technique (MFR) for hamstring tightness with conventional treatment and Group B received only conventional treatment for 6 days over a period of 1 week. Result: The finding of this study revealed significant difference in pain (VAS) in group A as compared to group B with the mean values of 3.74(Group A) and 2.26(Group B) (t value =7.036,p value=<0.0001) The finding of this study revealed significant difference in improvement in hamstring flexibility (AKT) in group A compared to group B with the mean values of 20(group A) and 6.4(group B) (t value =10.30, p value= <0.0001) The finding of this study revealed significant difference and improvement in functional disability in group A as compared to group B with mean value of 33.54 and 22.47 respectively (t value=4.755, p value = <0.0001) Conclusion: The study showed significant reduction in pain and improvement in functional disability in both the groups. Inter group comparison showed Group A which consisted MFR for hamstring tightness with conventional is more effective than only conventional treatment to reduce pain, improve hamstring flexibility and functional disability.