scholarly journals Comparing Effects of Cryotherapy and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Signs and Symptoms of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in Amateur Athletes

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
Kazem Malmir ◽  
Nastaran Ghotbi ◽  
Seyed Mohsen Mir ◽  
Behzad Moradi

Background: Although self-limiting, delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) declines performance of the athletes. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of repeated use of cryotherapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on signs and symptoms following hamstring DOMS. Methods: This study used a randomized controlled trial design. Thirty-two participants were randomly allocated into a TENS or cryotherapy group. Ten participants were also considered as a control group. Pain, active knee extension range of motion (AROM), triple-hop distance and thigh girth were assessed before, 24, 48 and 72 hours after inducing DOMS in the dominant hamstrings muscle. Results: Two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant main effect of time for pain intensity, AROM and triple hop distance(P<0.05), and main effect of group for pain intensity and AROM(P<0.05), and interaction effects of group×time for pain intensity and AROM(P<0.05). Post hoc statistical tests showed that mean of pain intensity and AROM was changed by cryotherapy group(P<0.017). Conclusion: Presence of pain, decreasing AROM and reducing triple hop distance confirmed the induction of DOMS in the hamstrings. Cryotherapy was more effective than TENS for controlling pain and improving AROM after DOMS. Triple hop distance, as a measure of function, was not able to detect dominance of cryotherapy or TENS for controlling DOMS of the hamstrings in spite of repeated use of these interventions.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
L. Bouafif ◽  
N. Ellouze

Background: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive pain therapy that uses the sensory effects of an electrical current applied to the skin. Some clinical studies demonstrated that this treatment helps to reduce acute and chronic pains, while others gave sometimes contradictory or uncertain conclusions about the performances of this strategy according to pathology classification. The purpose of this study is the development and evaluation of a new modulated version of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation called PWM-TENS. The principle is based on an automatic variation of the stimulation parameters (frequency, amplitude, duration, shape, cyclic ratio) according to the pain evolution. Methods: The study was a controlled clinical trial involving 15 participants, divided into 2 groups. The first experimental group performed modulated PWM-TENS electro-stimulation sessions applied to the painful areas 3 to 4 times a day, for one month. The second control group did parallel treatments by Placebo. The evaluation of the pain intensity is done with the Visual Analog Scale (EVA), the DN4 and SF36 questionnaires. Results: The tests and measurements with our embedded PWM-TENS technique demonstrated that we succeeded to increase the analgesic effect after stopping the stimulation and reduced the pain sensation by about 60%. An improvement in pain intensity scores and questionnaires (EVA, DN4), as well as the quality of life score (SF36), was observed. Also, a reduction of the treatment period from 3 to 1 month was also obtained. Conclusion: The first results clinically observed in the PWM-TENS technique are encouraging. The findings of this study confirm that this noninvasive strategy is suitable and useful for acute pains coming from the nociceptive, neuropathic and musculoskeletal origin. However, its efficiency is moderated and less adapted for low back pain. The experiments make it possible to estimate whether this modulated TENS method could improve existing anti-pain therapies, taking into account objective and subjective evaluation criteria. But this study must be followed by large population samples to answer all the problems of acute and chronic pains.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 449-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panos Barlas ◽  
Judith Robinson ◽  
Jim Allen ◽  
G. David Baxter

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Asgari ◽  
Zahra Tavoli ◽  
Reihaneh Hosseini ◽  
Masoomeh Nataj ◽  
Fatemeh Tabatabaei ◽  
...  

Background. Traditionally, laparoscopic procedures have been performed under general anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia is an effective alternative to general anesthesia. However, one of the intraoperative complications of performing laparoscopic surgery under spinal anesthesia is shoulder pain. This study aimed to compare the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) with fentanyl on pain relief in patients who underwent gynecologic laparoscopy under spinal anesthesia. Methods. We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial from May 2016 to March 2017. A sample of patients who underwent gynecological laparoscopy under spinal anesthesia was recruited. If they had shoulder pain, they randomly received either transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or 50 mg of fentanyl. Pain intensity was measured using the single item visual analogue scale (VAS-10 cm) immediately before and 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after treatment. Also, the effect of higher doses of analgesia on pain relief was analyzed. Results. In all, 80 patients (40 patients in each group) were entered into the study. The mean pain intensity score was 9.02 ± 1.32 in the TENS group and 8.95 ± 1.33 in the fentanyl group at baseline (P = 0.80). Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that there was no significant difference on overall pain scores between the two treatment groups adjusted for age, BMI, total analgesia used, and baseline pain score (F (1, 74) = 1.44, P = 0.23). The use of analgesic drugs in the TENS group was significantly higher than the fentanyl group (P = 0.01). In addition, we found that nine patients (22.5%) complained of nausea/vomiting in the TENS group compared to thirteen patients (32.5%) in the fentanyl group (P = 0.31). Conclusions. The findings indicated that TENS was not superior to fentanyl for pain relief in laparoscopic surgery. It seems that the correct use of TENS parameters might merit further investigation. This trial is registered with: IRCT2016031216765N3.


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