While standing straight with feet placed shoulder
width apart in a normal position, the length of the
spine was measured using a tape measure. One
magic marker mark was made on the skin at the
most prominent bone at the base of the neck
(cervical vertebra bone 7) and a second mark was
made on the skin at the round bony prominence of
the backbone (lumbar vertebra 1). The distance
between these two marks was recorded in centimeters.
A trunk flexion ROM measure (touch toes
without pain) was then recorded, again from the
base of the neck (cervical vertebra bone 7) to the
round bony prominence of the backbone (lumbar
vertebra 1), asking the person to reach forward to
touch the toes. The trunk flexion measure minus
the standing up baseline measure served as the
trunk flexion ROM. A pain flexion ROM measure
(touch toes to the point of pain) was then obtained,
as above, but the person was asked to reach toward
the toes or flex the trunk as far as possible, even
with pain. This measure was also subtracted from
the baseline standing up measure. All physical
measurements were collected by MHR who was