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Review
. 2021 Apr 29;13(4):e14758.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.14758.

Medical Flossing and the Pilates Method: Their Effectiveness on the Strength, Endurance, and Functionality of Healthy Individuals

Lourdes Victoria Quiles-Sanchez  1 , Ioannis Baroutas  2 , Georgios Kyriakos  3 , Nikolaos Gravvanis  4 , Vasiliki E Georgakopoulou  5   6 , Nikolaos Trakas  7 , Christos Damaskos  8   9 , Anna Garmpi  10 , Nikolaos Garmpis  9 , Vasileios Antoniou  11 , Paraskevi Farmaki  12 , Alexandros Patsouras  13 , Errika Voutyritsa  9 , Evangelos Diamantis  14
Affiliations
Review

Medical Flossing and the Pilates Method: Their Effectiveness on the Strength, Endurance, and Functionality of Healthy Individuals

Lourdes Victoria Quiles-Sanchez et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The flossing method is an emerging therapeutic intervention based on the use of a floss-band that is circumnavigated at the various points of the body being treated. It is optimally combined with an appropriate exercise program to induce ischemia and release the fascia by applying pressure and movement to functional models. The Pilates method teaches the person to focus on the muscles, especially those responsible for the correct posture. It also helps the individual to become aware of the way he/she breathes. Both methods have positive effects on exercise and rehabilitation. However, medical flossing has not been as well researched as the Pilates method. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of both methods on the strength, endurance, and functionality of healthy individuals. A review of the literature on medical flossing and Pilates was conducted. A systematic research took place from 2014 to 2019. Publications in non-English or non-Greek language were excluded. The articles were retrieved from not only PubMed, Scielo, and Elsevier databases, but also Google Scholar. Both methods are understudied in relation to their effectiveness on the strength, endurance, and functionality of healthy individuals. More studies are required to estimate the effects of both methods on healthy individuals.

Keywords: endurance; functionality; medical flossing; pilates; strength.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Prisma flow diagram for the current study.
PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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