Knee proprioception may be altered by treatment in athletes suffering from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Agostini, Valentina and Knaflitz, Marco and Capra, Gianpiero and Trucco, Marco and Visconti, Lorenzo (2018) Knee proprioception may be altered by treatment in athletes suffering from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, 19 (1). pp. 195001-1.

Text J Mechanics Med Capra Agostini Knaflitz Trucco Visconti 2018.pdf Download (2MB)

Abstract

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a very common musculoskeletal problem in athletes involved in extreme competitions. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of diathermy, sham diathermy and massage on the knee proprioception of athletes treated for DOMS. Forty athletes were enrolled after the second day of a demanding ski mountaineering race. They were randomly assigned to four groups: no treatment ðn ¼ 10Þ, massage ðn ¼ 10Þ, diathermy ðn ¼ 10Þ, and sham diathermy ðn ¼ 10Þ. The knee reposition error was measured after the treatments in order to assess knee proprioception. Significant differences between the diathermy and sham diathermy groups were found (p ¼ 0:01) with an absolute effect size of 4:7�. No other significant differences were found among groups. This means that diathermy has a negative impact on joint proprioception and can be explained by the spindle desensitization consequent to deeper tissue heating. This information can be important in the DOMS management of athletes, since an altered proprioception may interfere with the athlete’s performance and can increase the risk of injury.

Item Type:	Scientific journal article, Newspaper article or Magazine article
Subjects:	Medicine and Dentistry > Others in medicine & dentistry > Medicine & dentistry not elsewhere classified
Department/unit:	Dipartimento economia aziendale, sanità e sociale
Depositing User:	Gianpiero Capra
Date Deposited:	11 Feb 2019 05:51
Last Modified:	11 Feb 2019 05:51
URI:	http://repository.supsi.ch/id/eprint/10408

Actions (login required)

View Item