The effect of TECAR therapy during Bridge exercise on deep abdominal muscle thickness

TECAR therapy using Winback is designed to combine high-frequency treatment with manual therapy to improving blood circulation and providing heat to deep muscles. While previous studies have been studies showing the effect of high-frequency application on abdominal, there is no study examining the effect on abdominal stabilization. To investigate the immediate effect of TECAR therapy on deep abdominal muscles thickness during Bridge exercise in healthy adults. The healthy participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=16) or the control group (n=16). The experimental group received TECAR therapy combined with capacity electric transfer (CET) and resistive electric transfer (RET) modes for 15 minutes per day, while the control group performed the dead bug exercise. Ultrasonography was used to measure the thickness of the transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), and external oblique (EO) muscles before and after the intervention during the Bridge exercise in both groups. After TECAR therapy intervention, the thickness of TrA and IO significantly increased (p<0.003, P<0.004, respectively), while the thickness of EO significantly decreased (p<0.033) within the experimental group. There were statistically significant differences observed only in the thickness of EO between two groups (p<0.024). These findings suggest that TECAR therapy can be considered as an effective intervention for promoting abdominal muscle reorganization and trunk stabilization.