Effects of Hot-Pack Treatment on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Following Maximum Calf-Raise Exercise

Abstract

Creatine Kinase (CK) and muscle soreness are indirect markers of muscle damage. The peaked CK between at 72hr and 96 hr after exercise is induced more slowly as compared with the peaked muscle soreness between at 24 and 48. In general, the hot-pack treatment enlarges the size of blood vessels, increases the circulations of the blood and decreases the pain. PURPOSE: To determine effects of the 20 minutes of hot-pack treatment on DOMS following maximum calf-raise exercises in three consecutive days. METHODS: This study consisted of 3 days of the exercise period (EX-period) and 7 days of the recovery period (RE-period). Fourteen female collegiate students (age: 20 to 22yr) had performed in some moderate exercise regularly. Seven subjects (T-group) received hot-pack (40°C) treatment with the elastic bandage for 20minutes on both calf muscles immediately after the maximum exercise at one movement per 3 seconds until the subjects could not maintain the speed of movement. Other seven subjects (C-group) exercised maximally without any treatments. This study examined CK, maximum dorsiflexion (D-flex), maximum circumference of calf muscle(CIR), isometric muscle strength (IMS), one-leg long jumping (JUMP) and perceived pain (PAIN) before (pre-EX.), immediately after exercise (post-EX.) and 24 hours interval for 7 days after exercise periods. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between T-group and C-group regarding the calf-raise exercise steps and the daily walking steps after exercise. The CK values of T-group, increased significantly on Day 3 in EX-period to Day 5 in RE-period (p < 0.05), were higher than C-group. The peaked CK values of T-group and C-group were on Day2 in RE-period which was 96 hours after the initial exercise. The IMS values and D-flex values of T-group on Day 2 of pre-EX were significantly lower than those of C-group (p < 0.05%). In 3 days of the EX-period, all PAIN values in T-group significantly decreased after hot-pack treatment (p < 0.05%). The peaked PAIN values of T-group and C-group were on Day3 in Ex-period and the PAIN values both groups recovered on Day4 in RE-period. The JUMP values of T-group in EX-period decreased significantly after the initial exercise (p < 0.001–0.05%) and did not return to the initial values during RE-period. CONCLUSION: The result of this investigation suggests that hot-pack treatment for 20 minutes did not minimize DOMS following the maximum calf-raise exercise. The times of the peaked CK values of T-groups were not affected by hot-pack treatment immediately after exercise.