Effect Of Cryotherapy To A Muscle Versus A Joint On Functional Performance

Abstract

Cryotherapy is a common intervention used to treat acute and chronic injuries, and it can be used to facilitate rehabilitation exercises. A common practice in athletic training is allowing a patient to return to activity after the application of some type of cryotherapy. However, the effect of applying cryotherapy to a muscle or a joint on functional performance is unclear. PURPOSE: To investigate if cooling a muscle compared to cooling a joint affects functional performance in healthy, active individuals. METHODS: Forty-five healthy, college student volunteers (21 males; 24 females) with ages ranging from 18 to 23 years (M = 20.67; SD = 1.09) were randomly assigned to muscle (low leg) cryotherapy, joint (ankle) cryotherapy, or control (no cryotherapy) intervention for 20 minutes. After a 10 minute warm-up, subjects performed practice trials of a shuttle run and single leg vertical jump (SLVJ). Subjects performed three trials of a shuttle run (4 – 6.1 m sprints) for time, and performed three trials of a SLVJ for height measured prior to and immediately following the intervention. A mixed model ANOVA with a Bonferroni Correction was used to determine significant interactions between intervention groups and times with an alpha level of .05 for statistical significance. RESULTS: For the SLVJ, there was a significant interaction between the intervention groups and time; F(2,42)=3.349, p=0.045; however, group differences were unable to be determined. The muscle intervention group had a significant decrease in jump height between pre- (M=12.24, SD=3.61) and post-test (M=10.89, SD=3.21); p=0.01. For the shuttle run test, there were no significant interactions between group and time; F(2,42)=0.747, p=0.480. The joint (pre-M=7.43, SD=0.77; post-M=7.56, SD=0.70); p=0.036, and muscle (pre-M=7.63, SD=0.71; post-M=7.79, SD=0.78); p=0.013 intervention groups had a significant increase in run times between pre- and post-test. CONCLUSIONS: Cryotherapy application for 20 minutes to a muscle significantly decreased SLVJ height and increased shuttle run time, while, cryotherapy application for 20 minutes to a joint significantly increased shuttle run time pre-to post-test. If cryotherapy application is utilized prior to performance, a warm-up should be initiated to prevent a decrease in functional performance.