online CLICK ON RESEARCH TITLES TO GO TO ABSTRACT

This is a study in an ophthalmology journal so please excuse the ophthalmic terminology. A very large group of children who were taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were assessed by noncycloplegic autorefraction at ages 7, 10, 11, 12, and 15 years and classified as myopic (−1 diopters) or as emmetropic/hyperopic (−0.25 diopters) at each visit (n = 4,837–7,747). Physical activity at age 11 years was measured objectively using an accelerometer, worn for 1 week. Time spent outdoors was assessed via a parental questionnaire administered when children were aged 8–9 years. Variables associated with incident myopia were examined using Cox regression. The results were astounding. In analyses using all

available data, both time spent outdoors and physical activity correlated with incident myopia, with time outdoors having the larger effect. The results were similar for analyses restricted to children classified as either nonmyopic or emmetropic/hyperopic at age 11 years.

sportEX comment When you get past the ‘eye’ speak this simply

means that children who play outside are less likely to need spectacles than those who spend time inside. Previous studies suggested a link between physical activity and better vision but this one adds the outside link. So, get kids playing sport outside to help them be a vision of health.

TIME OUTDOORS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS PREDICTORS OF INCIDENT MYOPIA IN CHILDHOOD: A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY. Guggenheim J, Northstone K, et al. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 2012;53(6)

THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE PROVIDES PAIN WINDOW F TO A CLIENT WITH MORTON’S NEUROMA: A CASE REPORT. DAVIS F. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork 2012;5(2)

This is a case study on a single patient: a physically active 25-year-old female with diagnosed, symptomatic Morton’s neuroma who had not found relief with previous conservative intervention. She was given 6 sessions of massage therapy once weekly for 60–75 minutes focused on postural alignment and localised foot and leg treatment, plus a home exercise programme. Outcomes were a weekly postural assessment by the therapist and a pain survey based on a visual analogue scale. The results were that the patient reported a progressive change in the character of the pain from burning and stabbing before the first session to a dull, pulsing sensation after the third session. She also recorded a reduction in pain during exercise from a 5/10 to 0/10.

sportEX comment Morton’s neuroma is a common cause of pain between the third and fourth metatarsals. The symptoms are a burning or sharp pain and numbness on the forefoot. There are a number of treatment options including surgery. It is hard to find evidence for which one is best. Case studies are at the bottom of the evidence scale but often it is difficult to truly achieve the top end, the double-blind randomised controlled trial (because it is nearly impossible to blind the therapist and patient to the treatment), so the case study does have validity. Here you could argue about how much of the effect is the hands-on massage to the pain area, the postural alignment and the exercise programme but let’s not be picky. Massage is involved and it works.

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sportEX dynamics 2012;34(October):4-6