ABSTRACT
Delayed onset muscle soreness [DOMS], which occurs after eccentric exercises, may cause some reduction in ability in sport activities. For this reason, numerous recovery strategies have been used in an attempt to control the inflammatory-type response. Physical modalities have demonstrated no effect on the alleviation of muscle soreness or other DOMS symptoms. Whole-body vibration [WBV] has been suggested as a viable warm-up in sport fields. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence to support the protective effects of WBV-Training [WBVT] on muscle damage. Thirty-two healthy untrained volunteers randomly assigned into two groups: WBVT [n=15] and control [n=17]. Subjects performed 6 sets of 10 maximal isokinetic [60[degree sign].s-1] eccentric contractions of knee extensors with dominant limb on a dynamometer. In the WBVT group before eccentric exercise, whole body vibration was applied using a vibratory platform [Power Plate, 35 Hz, 5 mm peak-to-peak amplitude], with 100 [degree sign] knee flexion for 60 seconds while no vibration was applied in the control group. DOMS criteria [serum creatine kinase [CK], pressure pain threshold [PPT], muscle soreness, thigh circumference and maximal voluntary isometric exertion] were recorded at baseline, immediately after, 1to 14 days postexercise. WBVT group showed significant reduction of DOMS symptoms in terms of lower CK levels, less PPT, less muscle soreness and lower maximal isometric voluntary strength loss compared to the control group [P< 0.05] However, no significant effect on thigh circumference was evident [P> 0.05]. The findings of this study showed that WBVT administered before eccentric exercise may control and prevent DOMS and enhance the quadriceps muscle activity. Further investigation should be undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of WBVT in athletes
ABSTRACT
Using anti-inflammatory medicine injection such as dexamethasone acetate [DXA] is a common treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome [CTS]. Iontophoresis and phonophoresis of DXA are two other ways which may help to introduce DXA locally to inflammated tissues. This study has been deigned to compare the effect of iontophoresis and phonophoresis of DXA on the CTS treatment. 35 mild or moderate CTS patients [51 affected hands] were randomly assigned in one of the two experimental: iontophoresis [25 affected hands] and phonophoresis [26 affected hands] groups. Subjects in iontophoresis group received 10 sessions of iontophoresis of%0.4 DXA solution [DC, 0.2 mA/cm2, 20 min] over the wrist of the affected hands while the other group received 10 sessions of phonophoresis of%0.4 DXA jell with pulsed ultrasound [1 MHz, 1 W.cm-2, 5 min]. The strength of hand and thumb grips, paresthesia, pain, motor and sensory distal latency and evoked potential of median nerve were measured before and after intervention and after 4 weeks follow-up. Comparisons of the mean changes showed more increase in hand grip [P=0.006] and thumb grip [P=0.0002], less pain perception [P=0.001], shorter sensory [P=0.0001] and motor [P=0.0008] distal latency and higher sensory and motor [P=0.0001] action potential in the phonophoresis in compared with the iontophoresis group. Our results show that using phonophoresis of DXA is more effective for CTS treatment, than the iontophoresis method. More studies are needed to investigate the role of different parameters used during phonophoresis of DXA in the CTS treatment