Whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise is performed on a platform that generates vertical sinusoidal vibrations, stimulating muscle spindles and resulting in muscle contractions. The effect of WBV exercise on muscle activity is elicited through reflex muscle activation (Bongiovanni et al. 1990) and muscle twitch potentiation (Cochrane et al. 2010).
Table 7: Whole-Body Vibration in Management of OH in SCI
Discussion
There is one RCT (n=21) by Yarar-Fisher et al. (2013) examined the effect of whole-body vibration (WBV) on blood pressure while standing, and found that lower limb peripheral blood flow improved post-WBV. However, the clinical application of WBV in preventing orthostatic hypotension has not yet been studied.
Conclusion
There is level 1 evidence (Yarar-Fisher et al. 2013) that whole-body vibration increases standing mean arterial pressure in individuals with SCI.
