Patent Application
20080201830
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article of clothing with effects of back pain exercise, which can be worn as underwear or outerwear for preventing or relieving back pain and which has functions of posture improvement and body shape correction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people suffer from back pain due to various causes. Back pain is generally treated with conservative management and lifestyle education for maintaining and increasing physical strength. However, the biggest problem with back pain is that it often recurs. Back pain may lead to various diseases, the most common of which is lumbago. Although lumbago patients show no abnormality in the results of X-ray examinations and other tests, they suffer from pain caused by load concentration and accumulation of fatigue at the lumbar region due to insufficient muscle strength, posture problems, etc. Lumbago is generally treated with exercise therapy. Although the pain can be relieved by bed rest, it is difficult for the patients to take bed rest in modern living and in the economic environment. Therefore, the patients often exacerbate their symptoms.
The weight of the upper half of the body is supported by the lumbar spine that is positioned substantially at the center of the body. The lumber spine supports the weight of the upper half of the body and also receives a ground reaction force at the same time. Therefore, stress concentration occurs at the lumbar spine. As body weight increases, load on the lumbar spine, of course, also increases. The lumbar spine inherently has physiological lordosis. However, if the lordosis is increased, the pelvis tilts forward and force applied to intervertebral disks serves as a shear force. As a result, a stress is applied to paravertebral muscles and ligaments, which often leads to back pain. Displacement of sacroiliac joints is also considered to be the cause of back pain. The pelvis is constituted of two ilia and a sacrum with the sacroiliac joints disposed therebetween. Different from diarthroses, the sacroiliac joints are called plane joints or synarthrodial joints and are disposed at the center of movement. If the pelvis including the sacroiliac joints is tilted, it becomes difficult to stand upright. Accordingly, the abdominal muscle group mainly serves to reduce the lordosis of the lumber spine by tilting the pelvis rearward. If the abdominal muscles are strong, a high abdominal pressure is generated and force applied to the lumbar spine and the paravertebral muscles can be distributed.
Back braces, such as back supporters and back bands, have been described in reports regarding corsets. Back braces are generally prescribed in orthopedic clinics, but are also used outside medical facilities by many athletes irrespective of whether or not they have a lumbar disease. The purposes of using them are: (1) to limit vertebral segment motion; (2) to reduce load on the spine by increasing intra-abdominal pressure; (3) to suppress trunk muscle activity; (4) to reduce trunk muscle fatigue; and (5) to obtain a heat insulation effect. In research studies carried out in 1997, the effects of back braces in the acute phase of lumbago were studied by surface electromyogram. As a result, it was found that back braces have an effect of reducing dorsi muscle activity and fatigue. However, it has also been found that long-term use of back braces may cause disuse of dorsi muscles and reduction in lumbar spine mobility, which may lead to chronic lumbago. Therefore, it is important to begin exercise therapy after the pain is relieved by using a back brace for a certain period. The above-mentioned purposes corresponding to the advantages of corsets can be reliably achieved by the corsets. In particular, it is commonly known that it is important to reduce load on the spine by increasing intra-abdominal pressure for preventing and relieving back pain.
To enhance the above-described advantages, Williams has proposed Williams exercises, which is the most common method of exercise therapy for back pain. Regular practice of Williams exercises leads to posture correction, recovery of joint function, increase in muscle strength, and improvements in muscular coordination and tolerance so that motion velocity can be increased. In other words, supporting characteristics and mobility of the muscles, ligaments, and intervertebral joint capsules around the lumbosacral spine are normalized and posture is corrected for curing back pain. Various kinds of back pain exercises have been suggested. One common principle of the various back pain exercises is to extend muscles, ligaments, joint capsules including synovium and fibrous membrane, etc., in the lumbar portion of the back and the legs and to increase the muscle strength of the trunk muscles. In particular, importance is generally placed on strengthening abdominal muscles for reducing lumbar lordosis and increasing abdominal pressure.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-89856 describes leggings having highly elastic parts in predetermined areas in the back, the predetermined areas corresponding to areas where the skin is highly stretched at the buttocks and back thighs when the thighs are raised. The highly elastic parts have a higher modulus of elasticity in the height direction than those of parts in areas other than the predetermined areas in the back and in areas corresponding to at least an abdomen and front thighs in the front.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-192903 describes a girdle made of elastic knitting fabric and capable of improving the stability of hip joints, creating a youthful body shape and posture, relieving back pain, and aiding in the prevention of falling for old people.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-345866 describes a waist belt for relieving back pain.
Very few people are patient enough to continue Williams exercises for back pain, and it is difficult to manage time and have a suitable environment for restarting the exercises. Accordingly, there has been a demand for an article of clothing capable of assisting and extending muscles in the lumbar portion of the back and back thighs and strengthening the muscles in the abdomen and front thighs during daily life on the basis of the principle of back pain exercise. To comply with such a demand, an article of clothing capable of assisting the muscles and skeleton construction has been developed. Accordingly, development of an article of clothing that provides effects of back pain exercise based on the principle of Williams exercises or the like in a daily life environment is demanded.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an article of clothing that provides effects of back pain exercise for relieving or curing back pain when worn by a user and that has functions of posture improvement and body shape correction.
To achieve the object, according to an aspect of the present invention, an article of clothing for a lower half of a body has a function of body shape correction and includes a main body formed of main-body knitting fabric that provides a high degree of tightness and that is made of power net. The article of clothing includes front support pieces formed of interlining having no elasticity in a longitudinal direction thereof, the front support pieces being sewn to a front body of the article of clothing at left and right positions inside the ilia on the left and right of the abdominal pelvis of the wearer; and back support pieces formed of interlining having no elasticity in a longitudinal direction thereof, the back support pieces being sewn to a back body of the article of clothing at left and right positions that are closer to the back support piece than the gluteus medius muscles of a wearer. Waist pieces extend rearward from side portions between the front support pieces and the respective back support pieces to regions around the gluteus medius muscles. The waist pieces have a three-layer structure including the main-body knitting fabric and net-like knitting fabric folded at a bottom edge to form a two-layer structure and placed on the main-body knitting fabric, the net-like knitting fabric providing a high degree of tightness. A navel cover piece provided in the front body has a three-layer structure in which the main-body knitting fabric is folded so as to sandwich the net-like knitting fabric. An abdomen piece disposed below the navel cover piece has a two layer structure including the main-body knitting fabric facing outside and the net-like knitting fabric facing inside. The waist pieces having the three-layer structure and the navel cover piece having the three-layer structure are configured to increase an abdominal pressure, which is said to be effective in preventing or relieving back pain. Both sides of the pelvis are pulled rearward by the net-like knitting fabric of the waist portions so that the position of the pelvis is corrected. Accordingly, a forward movement of the sacrum is facilitated and physiological lordosis of the lumbar spine is reduced. To achieve this, in the waist pieces having the three-layer structure, the main-body knitting fabric and the net-like knitting fabric folded to form the two-layer structure are sewn together at a top edge thereof. In addition, the folded bottom edge of the net-like knitting fabric forming the two-layer structure is not sewn to the main-body knitting fabric and is free from the main-body knitting fabric in areas other than a central area of the back body. The article of clothing has a high-waist structure to provide a function of posture improvement when the article of clothing is worn. In addition, the article of clothing has a pant-like shape with left and right leg parts that can be tightly fitted around the thighs.
Preferably, in the article of clothing according to the aspect of the present invention, a piece disposed below the waist in the back body so as to cover a region including the gluteus medius muscles, the sacrum, and the lumber spine is formed only of the main-body knitting fabric. In addition, a waist piece disposed between the left and right back support pieces in a central area of the back body is formed only of the net-like knitting fabric folded, thereby providing a tight-fit feeling. In addition, the waist pieces between the front support pieces in the front body and the respective back support pieces are tightly restrained such that the knitting fabric of the waist pieces is pulled toward the back support pieces.
In addition, preferably, in the article of clothing according to the aspect of the present invention, back thigh pieces of the article of clothing having the pant-like shape have a two-layer structure including the main-body knitting fabric and the net-like knitting fabric, so that tensile load is applied thereto when the thighs are lifted during walking. Thus, the article of clothing is expected to assist and extend muscles in the lumbar portion of the back and back thighs and strengthening the muscles in the abdomen and front thighs during daily life on the basis of the principle of back pain exercise.
In addition, preferably, in the article of clothing according to the aspect of the present invention, the main-body knitting fabric and the net-like knitting fabric have a tensile strength of 490 mN or more when stretched by 30% according to an elasticity test defined by Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS).
According to the present invention, the article of clothing for a lower half of a body with effects of back pain exercise has a function of body shape correction. The article of clothing improves the posture of the wearer and corrects distortion of the wearer's body without causing the wearer to bend forward. The left and right portions of the wearer's body are evenly pulled so as to reduce load of the weight placed on the spine, in particular the lumbar spine, and the abdominal pressure is increased so that the load applied to the lumbar region is reduced. In addition, the muscle activities during walking are changed such that the muscle activities in the front of the body are increased and the muscle activities in the back of the body are reduced. The overall change in the muscle activities serves to prevent or relieve back pain. Thus, the present invention provides particularly significant advantages that cannot be obtained by the structures of the related art.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Referring to
Thus, the article of clothing 1 according to the present invention is formed of two kinds of knitting fabric: the main-body knitting fabric 26 and the net-like knitting fabric 27. The main-body knitting fabric 26 is made of mesh power net woven by polyurethane elastic yarn and having a high tightness rate such that an expansion ratio in the weft direction is higher than that in the warp direction. The main-body knitting fabric 26 has a tensile strength of 490 mN or more when stretched by 30%. The net-like knitting fabric 27 is woven by polyurethane elastic yarn and has approximately the same expansion ratio in the weft direction and the warp direction. Referring to
Side abdomen pieces 4 have a two-layer structure including an outer layer formed of the main-body knitting fabric 26 and an inner layer formed of the net-like knitting fabric 27. The outer layers of the side abdomen pieces 4 of the front body are formed integrally with each other such that, for example, the outer layer of the left side abdomen piece 4 formed of the main-body knitting fabric 26 extends through a left flank portion 5, the left hip piece 6 of the back body, the right hip piece 6, and a right flank portion 5, and continues to the right side abdomen piece 4 of the front body. The side abdomen pieces 4 have the two-layer structure including the main-body knitting fabric 26 and the net-like knitting fabric 27, and lower portions of the left and right side abdomen pieces 4 are respectively formed integrally with left and right lower hip pieces 7, respectively, of the back body.
The left and right leg parts 1b that extend downward from the torso part 1a of the article of clothing 1 through joint seams 22 will now be described. The left and right central thigh pieces 8 that extend downward from the abdomen piece 2 having the two-layer structure through the joint seams 22 have a single-layer structure of the main-body knitting fabric 26. The left and right outer thigh pieces 9 respectively extend downward through the joint seams 22 from the left and right side abdomen pieces 4 having the outer layers formed of the main-body knitting fabric 26 and the inner layers formed of the net-like knitting fabric 27 and extending from the left and right hip pieces 6 through seams 20 shown in
Left and right waist pieces 13 of the front body and a waist piece 13 of the back body that continues therefrom have a two-layer structure of the net-like knitting fabric 27 that is folded at the bottom edge and is sewn to a piece of elastic 16 with seams 18 at the top edge. The folded portions at the bottom of the waist pieces 13 are sewn to the main-body knitting fabric 26 disposed under the waist pieces 13 with a seam 24 only in the central area of the back body, and are free from the main-body knitting fabric 26 in other areas. The front support pieces 14 are thin plate shaped and are formed of interlining or rigid resin so as to extend along an upper half of joint seams 21 at the boundaries between the arch-shaped sides of the abdomen piece 2 and the side abdomen pieces 4 of the front body. The back support pieces 15 are thin plate shaped and are formed of interlining or rigid resin so as to extend in upper half portions of the hip pieces 6 of the back body. The front support pieces 14 become engaged with the left and right edges of the pelvis of the wearer when the article of clothing 1 with effects of back pain exercise is worn. Accordingly, the front support pieces 14 have a function of preventing the boundaries between the arch-shaped sides of the abdomen piece 2 and the side abdomen pieces 4 from being moved leftward or rightward when the knitting fabric of the article of clothing 1 is pulled at the left or right flank. The back support pieces 15 do not have elasticity in the longitudinal direction thereof, and are sewn to the back body at positions inside the muscles of back proper in inner areas of the hip pieces 6, that is, at left and right positions near the sacrum in the pelvis when the article of clothing 1 with effects of back pain exercise is worn. Accordingly, the back support pieces 15 have a function of preventing the back body from being moved leftward or rightward even when it is pulled leftward or rightward. Due to the above-described functions and the non-elastic bones, the stabilizer muscle groups around the lumbar spine in the wearer's body can be stably supported. In addition, the high-waist structure allows more adequate maintenance of the wearer's body shape and posture improvement when the article of clothing 1 is worn. Accordingly, effects of back pain exercise can be obtained.
As described above, when the article of clothing according to the present embodiment is worn, load is placed on the wearer's body so as to change the muscle activities of the wearer as the wearer walks. Thus, the muscle activities of rectus abdominis muscles and flexor muscle groups in the lower half of the body are enhanced. As a result, effects of back pain exercise for maintaining and improving the muscle strength of the stabilizer muscle groups around the lumbar spine can be obtained. Therefore, back pain can be prevented or relieved.
To confirm the above-described effects, articles of clothing having the structure of the article of clothing 1 according to the present invention with waist sizes 64 cm, 70 cm, and 79 cm were prepared. A verification test of the articles of clothing with effects of back pain exercise was performed as follows. That is, fifteen test subjects were asked to walk with and without wearing the articles of clothing, and muscle activities during walking were determined. The verification test of the articles of clothing with effects of back pain exercise was performed by a national university to ensure objectivity. Table 1 shows the physiques of the subjects. In the verification test, the muscle activities were determined by surface electromyogram, and electromyograms were taken at positions around the subject's torsos determined by palpation. More specifically, the electromyograms were taken at eight positions corresponding to iliocostal muscles, rectus abdominis muscles, gluteus medius muscles, gluteus maximus muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, rectus femoris muscles, biceps femoris muscles, and gastrocnemius muscles. The subjects walked along a 10-m path five times for one set, and repeated seven sets with and without wearing the articles of clothing with effects of back pain exercise according to the present invention. In the test, the subjects were asked to walk as usual without setting particular walking pace or step.
Electrodes for taking the electromyograms were attached to the skin surface of each of the fifteen subjects at the eight positions corresponding to iliocostal muscles, rectus abdominis muscles, gluteus medius muscles, gluteus maximus muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, rectus femoris muscles, biceps femoris muscles, and gastrocnemius muscles. Before attaching the electrodes, the skin was shaved at the positions where the electrodes are to be attached, grease was removed by ethanol, and the epidermis of the skin was removed with cream containing fine particles. In addition, a discharge ground was adhered to the chest of each subject. The electromyogram data was transmitted from a transmitter of a multi-telemeter system (WEB-5500 produced by Nihon Kohden Corporation) to a receiver, converted by an AD converter (MP-System produced by BIOPAC Systems, Inc.), and was processed using a biometric information analysis program (AcqKnowledge produced by BIOPAC Systems, Inc.). Thus, the muscle activities during waking were measured at a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz.
Waveforms obtained by surface electromyogram were subjected to integral electromyogram analysis, and the amount of muscle discharge of the measured potential between the samples was quantified. Referring to
Three criterions were used for determining the effects of back pain exercise expected by the articles of clothing according to the present invention on the basis of Table 2. The number and rate of people who satisfied the criterions were checked.
The three criterions were as follows:
Criterion 1: A statistically meaningful improvement of muscle activity was obtained between data of cases where the article of clothing was and was not worn during walking in at least one of the important portions (muscles in the front of the body: rectus abdominis muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, and rectus femoris muscles).
Criterion 2: A statistically meaningful reduction of muscle activity was obtained between data of cases where the article of clothing was and was not worn during walking in two or more of muscles in the back of the body (iliocostal muscles, gluteus maximus muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, and rectus femoris muscles)
Criterion 3: A statistically meaningful change in muscle activity was obtained between data of cases where the article of clothing was and was not worn during walking at five or more of the eight positions.
In the above-described test, five out of fifteen subjects showed an improvement in muscle activity in one or more of the muscles in the front of the body, that is, rectus abdominis muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, and rectus femoris muscles mentioned in criterion 1. In addition, six out of fifteen subjects showed a reduction in muscle activity in two or more of the muscles in the back of the body, that is, iliocostal muscles, gluteus maximus muscles, vastus lateralis muscles, and rectus femoris muscles mentioned in criterion 2. In addition, seven out of fifteen subjects showed a change in muscle activity at five or more of the eight positions.
As a result, it was reported by the national university that the article of clothing according to the present invention is capable of controlling the posture of the wearer and changing the muscle activities during walking. Eleven out of fifteen subjects of the verification test satisfied one or more of criterions 1 to 3. Accordingly, the article of clothing according to the present invention provided the effects of curing or relieving back pain by changing the muscle activities in 73.3% of the subjects.
Different from the article of clothing 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the present invention may also be applied to an outerwear, such as outerwear pants and tights. In such a case, the article of clothing 1 shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-047242 | Feb 2007 | JP | national |
