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EFFECTS OF HYDROTHERAPY ON PAIN AND FUNCTIONAL ABILITY FOLLOWING A BOUT OF MUSCLE-DAMAGING EXERCISE

Abstract

M. Smith, A. Stump, L. Foster, H. Bokma, W. M. Silvers

Whitworth University, Spokane, WA

Delayed recovery from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) can cause functional performance deficits during athletic competition. Cold water immersion (CWI) and hot water immersion (HWI) have been proposed as modalities to improve recovery from DOMS, but empirical evidence to support their efficacy has been equivocal. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of HWI and CWI hydrotherapy on pain and functional ability following a bout of muscle-damaging exercise in a collegiate soccer population. METHODS: Twenty-nine collegiate soccer athletes, male (n = 17) and female (n = 12) participated in the study. The participants’ PPT was measured over the rectus femoris muscle. Participants completed a countermovement jump (CMJ), T-test (TT), and 40 yd sprint (40YS) to assess baseline functional ability. Participants then performed a drop jump protocol to elicit DOMS. After exercise, participants completed one of three randomly assigned interventions for 10 min: CWI (10 deg C), HWI (38 deg C), or no immersion (CON). The second session consisted of PPT and functional testing. A factorial ANOVA test with repeated measures and post-hoc tests were used to determine the existence of significant differences between treatment conditions for all dependent variables. RESULTS: As expected, there was a significant time effect observed between sessions (p = 0.00 - 0.04) for all dependent variables because the drop jump protocol induced DOMS and decreased performance. Most importantly, no significant differences were observed across sessions for PPT (CON: 23.7 ± 9.5 lbf vs. 22.3 ± 12.9 lbf; CWI: 22.0 ± 7.4 lbf vs. 20.2 ± 8.9 lbf; HWI: 21.2 ± 6.7 lbf vs. 19.1 ± 6.8 lbf; p = 0.49 - 0.81), TT (CON: 9.5 ± 0.6 sec vs. 9.7 ± 0.7 sec; CWI: 10.0 ± 0.8 sec vs. 10.3 ± 0.8 sec; HWI: 9.6 ± 0.6 sec vs. 10.1 ± 0.8 sec; p = 0.14 - 0.50), and 40YS (CON: 5.38 ± 0.44 sec vs. 5.55 ± 0.40 sec; CWI: 5.56 ± 0.46 sec vs. 5.85 ± 0.44 sec; HWI: 5.38 ± 0.47 sec vs. 5.66 ± 0.54 sec; p = 0.25 - 0.79) based on treatment group. A significant difference was found for CMJ (CON: 53.6 ± 10.5 cm vs. 52.3 ± 10.2 cm; CWI: 47.3 ± 9.8 cm vs. 48.0 ± 10.8; HWI: 52.0 ± 11.8 cm vs. 47.3 ± 10.1 cm; p = 0.024), but was attributed to a significant time effect (p = 0.00 - 0.03). CONCLUSION: Hydrotherapy had no effect on pain or functional ability following muscle-damaging exercise in a collegiate soccer population. Above all, the results of this study may have been due to a small effect size and low statistical power. Future research should repeat the present study design with a larger sample size, utilize additional PPT testing locations, and implement exercise protocols that optimize the effects of WI.

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