Comparison of effect of cold therapy at different temperature on upper limb delayed onset muscle soreness in young men
LOU Yantao
WANG Jiawei
XIAO Xiaofei
LI Yanhui
Abstract：Objective To compare the effect of cold therapy at different temperature on the pain and motor function of delayed onset muscle soreness(DOMS)in the upper limbs of young men.
Methods From April to July,2024,24 healthy young men(aged 22 to 26 years)were selected from the Key Laboratory of Winter Sports Technical Diagnosis and Skill Evaluation of the General Administration of Sport of China at Shenyang Sport University,and randomly divided into control group,group A and group B equally.An isokinetic muscle strength testing system was used to establish a DOMS movement model for elbow joint.Then,group A re-ceived cold therapy at a constant temperature of 10℃for 10 minutes,group B received cold therapy at a con-stant temperature of 6℃for 10 minutes,and the control group received natural recovery.They were measured relative peak torque(rPT)of the elbow flexor muscles at angular velocities of 60°/s,120°/s and 180°/s with iso-kinetic muscle strength testing system,and root mean square(RMS)of EMG amplitude of biceps brachii was synchronously collected using a wireless surface EMG system,immediately,and 24,48 and 72 hours after model establishment;while,they were assessed with Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)for pain.
Results The main effects of VAS score,rPT and RMS were significant in both intra-group(F>15.716,P<0.001)and inter-group(F>6.478,P<0.01).At 24,48 and 72 hours after model establishment,the VAS scores showed a trend of control group>group A>group B(P<0.05).Although the pairwise comparison results of rPT and RMS among the groups varied at different time points after model establishment under different angular veloci-ties,overall,rPT presented a trend of control group<group A<group B(P<0.05),and RMS presented a trend of control group>group A>group B(P<0.05).The higher the angular velocity and the longer the time,the more obvious this trend was.
Conclusions Cold therapy can relieve the pain of DOMS in the upper limbs of young men and promote the recovery of muscle strength,especially at a constant temperature of 6℃.
Keywords：delayed onset muscle sorenessupper limbscold therapypainmuscle strength
Publication Date：2025-09-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-10-17(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：9( 1074-1082 )