Comparison of the skin surface temperature on the front of thigh after application of combined red-IR radiation and diadynamic currents executed in a different sequence

Abstract

Most physical treatments have thermal effects. Effect of heat on the body is not always uniform and depends on the treated body surface, the intensity of the stimulus, the stimulus duration, changes in the intensity of the stimulus and the physical environment. Thermovision is a method that allows for precise determination of the temperature distribution of the tested body surface. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sequence of execution of infrared irradiation combined with visible light, for simplicity called further IR and diadynamic currents (called further DD) on the distribution of skin surface temperature. We also evaluated whether the order of execution of physical treatments affects the consensual reaction and temperature variations depending on sex and body mass index. The study involved 28 volunteers—16 women and 12 men aged 19–28 years. The treatments were performed on the front of right thigh in two sequences—IR–DD and DD–IR. For measuring the temperature distribution, there was thermovision used. In each sequence, there were five images captured with the use of FLIR T335 camera. The significance of changes in skin temperature was rated with Student’s t test for dependent samples, whereas the dependence on the treatments sequence and sexual differentiation was analyzed with the use of test for independent samples, and the correlations were evaluated by determining the Pearson’s r linear correlation coefficient. In the assessment of statistical significance, the critical threshold α = 0.05 was used. Regardless of the treatments sequence, the average surface temperature of the right thigh after IR radiation increased by more than 4 °C. However, there were no significant temperature changes observed after the treatment with diadynamic currents. More dynamic changes in the average temperature values were stated in the sequence DD–IR, as 30 min after the second treatment, the temperature was higher as compared to the initial value by 1 °C. Statistically significant sex-dependent differences occurred only after infrared radiation.