Effects of Proprioceptive Training in Addition to Routine Physical Therapy on Balance and Quality of Life in Patients With Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Proprioceptive training included exercises on different floor textures composed of 10 stations of exercises with the objective of stimulating the sole of the foot where participants had to coordinate gait by stepping with alternate feet on markers placed on the ground and the progression was manipulated through modifications of speed and direction. Sequence of materials was 10 cm-thick foam, wood box with beans, two-cm thick mat with a density lower than the foam, wood box with cotton, two-cm thick mat volunteers sat on a bench and trained feet flexors by grasping with the toes a towel put on the floor, Two proprioception balls was used with an eight cm diameter with external projections resting on the floor a box with grains and sandpaper. After that joint Positional Sense Exercises were performed.

Routine physical therapy included range of motion exercises for bilateral ankle joints (5 min.), functional balance training (15 min.) involving sit to stand (5 times); standing weight shift (5 times each); functional reach- sideway and anterior for touching targets set by the therapist (5 times each); bipedal heel rise for 20 seconds (5 times); unipedal standing for 15 seconds (5 times each) and unipedal standing with knee bending for 15 second (5 times each). Other exercises was practiced as wobble board training (6 min).