A Comparison of the Effect of Massage With Lavender Gel and Piroxicam Gel on Exercise-induced Muscle Soreness in Male Students of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Aims: Muscular pain is a common complication of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of massage with lavender gel and piroxicam gel on exercise-induced muscle pain in male students of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. Methods & Materials: This semi-experimental study was performed on 75 male students of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences in 2018. The Samples were randomly divided into three groups of 25, including a lavender gel massage group, a piroxicam gel massage group, and a placebo gel massage group. The specimens were randomly divided into three groups of 25, including a lavender gel massage group, a piroxicam gel massage group, and a placebo gel massage group. The training program lasted for 45 minutes, including 10 minutes of warming up and doing stretching exercises, 30 minutes of exercises and the main exercises and 5 minutes for cooling. The research instrument was a checklist for the demographic characteristics of the samples and the Thalog malformation questionnaire. Samples completed the Thalog pain questionnaire after completing the exercise and also after the massage. The Mean±SD were used for descriptive statistics. Normaly distributed data were analyticaly analyzed by paired t-test and ANOVA and non-normaly distributed data were analyticaly analyzed by Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Findings: The results showed that muscle pain induced by exercise in all three groups after massage was significantly reduced compared to before massage (P<0.001). The results of Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the difference in muscle pain before and after massage with the three gels used (P=0.002) was statistically significant. Massage with lavender gel compared to piroxicam and placebo groups was able to reduce more the muscle pain. Conclusion: Massage with lavender gel compared to the piroxicam gel and placebo gel can be a better way to reduce muscle pain after exercise.