Immediate effects of a neurodynamic sciatic nerve sliding technique on hamstring flexibility and postural balance in healthy adults

Objective: In this study, we applied a neurodynamic sciatic nerve sliding technique to healthy adults to elucidate its effects on hamstring flexibility and postural balance. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This study targeted twenty four healthy adults (16 men, 8 women). A neurodynamic sciatic nerve sliding technique was applied 5 times to all subjects` dominant leg. The subjects were asked to sit on the bed while performing cervical and thoracic flexion, as well as knee flexion with ankle plantar flexion. Then, they were asked to perform cervical and thoracic extension and knee extension with their ankle in dorsiflexion and maintain the position for 60 s. For postural balance, we measured postural sway while the subjects maintained a one-legged standing posture using the Good Balance System and measured the hip joint flexion range of motion using a standardized passive straight leg raise (SLR) test. Results: SLR test increased significantly from 79o before the intervention to 91.67o after the intervention (p<0.05). Regarding the participants` balance evaluated using the one-legged standing test, the X-speed decreased significantly from 18.61 mm/s to 17.17mm/s (p<0.05), the Y-speed decreased from 22.28 mm/s to 20.52 mm/s (p<0.05), and the velocity moment was significantly decreased from 89.33 mm2/s to 74.99 mm2/s after the intervention (p<0.05). Conclusions: Application of the neurodynamic sciatic nerve sliding technique exhibited improved hamstring flexibility and postural balance of healthy adults.