Exploring the effect of pelvic belt configurations upon athletic lumbopelvic pain.

Background: Lumbopelvic injuries are often refractory to treatment and can limit return to sport. Research shows that 50 Newtons (N) of force applied transversely to the pelvis improves lumbopelvic stability and pain. This study applies transverse and diagonal forces to the pelvis in athletes with lumbopelvic pain, and investigates effects on pain and function. Objective: To investigate the effects of transverse and diagonal compressive forces applied to the pelvis of athletes with lumbopelvic pain Study Design: A randomized, repeated measures design using 20 athletes with lumbopelvic pain. Methods: No belt and four pelvic belt configurations (50 N force) were tested. Outcome measures were: resting pain, pain on active straight leg raise (ASLR), resisted hip adduction force and pain on 1-metre broad jump. Force on the adduction test was determined via load cell. Results: Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Squeeze test showed significant effect of condition F (4, 76) = 2.7, P < 0.05. On ASLR ipsilateral to the side of pain, pain decreased across conditions (F (4, 76) = 2.5 P = 0.05). Conclusion: Results suggest application of diagonal forces towards the site of pain may have additional benefits in improving pain and function. Such information may inform the development of an orthosis.