Abstract

Postural hypotonia is one of the many factors adversely affecting postural stability, understood as the attitude of resistance to interference of endogenous and exogenous interferences. It evokes a number of compensatory responses allowing the stabilization of the body and entailing changes in the reciprocal positioning of the key points: the head, the shoulders and the pelvis. This affects the spatial position of the overall center of mass (COM), changing the base of the support and physiological limits of stability. Thera Togs suit is an orthotic equipment applicable in the treatment of postural hypotonia. Through the compression it provides incentives for proprioceptors, affecting body awareness and postural stability. The paper attempts to assess the impact of Thera Togs suit on postural stability of the studied sample. The sample comprised 8 of Rehabilitation-Education-Pedagogical Centre in Kielce, diagnosed with postural hypotonia who were able to maintain an upright position. In order to evaluate the therapeutic effect of Thera Togs suit, triple stability measurements was carried out, first before putting the suit on and next after one hour and six hours of wearing the suit. A statistically significant improvement in postural stability was observed in each patient, expressed by a decrease in size and area of the confidence ellipse and reduction of the number of postural sways. The corrective effect, resulting from application of the tape, aimed at restoring a symmetrical load distribution between the feet, was not obtained. The preliminary results show an improvement in postural stability in the study group of patients.

Key words:

postural hypotonia, postural stability, orthotic equipment, Therapeutic effects