[h=1]Effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, cold, and a combination treatment on pain, decreased range of motion, and strength loss associated with delayed onset muscle soreness.[/h]Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed.
[h=3]Abstract[/h]Athletic trainers have a variety of therapeutic agents at their disposal to treat musculoskeletal pain, but little objective evidence exists of the efficacy of the modalities they use. In this study, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) served as a model for musculoskeletal injury in order to: (1) compare the changes in perceived pain, elbow extension range of motion, and strength loss in subjects experiencing DOMS in the elbow flexor muscle group following a single treatment with either transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), cold, a combination of TENS and cold, sham TENS, or 20 minutes of rest; (2) compare the effects of combining static stretching with these treatments; and (3) determine if decreased pain is accompanied by a restoration of strength. DOMS was induced in the non-dominant elbow flexor muscle group in 40 females (age = 22.0 +/- 4.3 yr) with repeated eccentric contractions. Forty-eight hours following exercise, all subjects presented with pain, decreased elbow extension range of motion, and decreased strength consistent with DOMS. Subjects were randomly assigned to 20-minute treatments followed by static stretching. Cold, TENS, and the combined treatment resulted in significant decreases in perceived pain. Treatments with cold resulted in a significant increase in elbow extension range of motion. Static stretching also significantly reduced perceived pain. Only small, nonsignificant changes in muscle strength were observed following treatment or stretching, regardless of the treatment group. These results suggest that the muscle weakness associated with DOMS is not the result of inhibition caused by pain. The results suggest that these modalities are effective in treating the pain and muscle spasm associated with DOMS, and that decreased pain may not be an accurate indicator of the recovery of muscle strength.
[h=1]Lack of effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation upon experimentally induced delayed onset muscle soreness in humans.[/h]Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed.
[h=3]Source[/h]Rehabilitation Sciences Research Group, School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, UK.
[h=3]Abstract[/h]The aim of the current study, for which ethical approval was obtained, was to assess the hypoalgesic efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) upon acute stage (72 h) experimentally induced delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). TENS naive subjects (n = 48; 24 male and 24 female) were recruited, screened for relevant pathology and randomly allocated to one of four experimental groups: control, placebo, low TENS (200 microseconds; 4 Hz) or high TENS group (200 microseconds; 110 Hz). DOMS was induced in a standardised fashion in the non-dominant elbow flexors of all subjects by repeated eccentric exercise. Subjects attended on three consecutive days for treatment and measurement of elbow flexion, extension and resting angle (Universal goniometer), Mechanical Pain Threshold/tenderness (algometer) and pain (Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)) on a daily basis, plus McGill Pain Questionnaire on the third day only. Measurements were taken before and after treatment under controlled double blinded conditions. Analysis of results using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests showed some inconsistent isolated effects of high TENS (110 Hz) compared to the other conditions upon resting angle and flexion scores; no significant effects were found for any of the other variables. These results provide no convincing evidence for any measurable hypoalgesic effects of TENS upon DOMS-associated pain at the stimulation parameters used here.
