遠紅外線照射對消除延遲性肌肉酸痛與本體感覺恢復之效果評估

Introduction: The performance of unaccustomed eccentric exercise (EC) by the general public can easily cause severe symptoms of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which can impair proprioception. This, in turn, can affect an individual's ability to conduct daily activities. Recently, far-infrared ray (FIR) treatment has been described as a noninvasive modality that can be applied to deep tissues of the human body as a means of relieving muscle pain and improving repair of injured tissues, but to date, no previous study has investigated the effects of FIR treatment. Purpose: This study examined the effects of a 30-min FIR treatment performed daily for 4 days following maximal EC, on the alleviation of DOMS and recovery of proprioception in comparison to a sham treatment in active young women. Methods: Active young women were randomly placed into FIR and sham (SH) groups (n = 9/group). Participants performed 12 x 6 maximal isokinetic (30°/s) ECs of the unilateral elbow flexors (EF) using a counterbalanced method, and received a 30-min FIR or sham (SH) treatment on the EF 1, 25, 49 and 73 hours after exercise. Changes in DOMS, position sense (PS) and joint reaction angle to release (JRA) with and without a 10% load (10% pre-exercise maximal isometric strength) (PS-L and JRA-L, respectively) were measured before to 120 hours postexercise, and were compared between conditions with a two-way ANOVA. Results: The increases in DOMS (peak: 44 mm) after EC for the FIR group were significantly smaller (p ＜ .05) than those for the SH group (81 mm), and the recovery of PS (e.g., 0° 48 h postexercise), JAR (-4°), PS-L and JAR-L was significantly faster (p ＜ .05) for the FIR group than for the SH group (-3° and -8°). Conclusion: These results suggest that FIR treatment was effective for alleviating DOMS and enhancing the recovery of proprioception after EC. Thus, FIR treatment may be an effective modality to eliminate DOMS and enhance the recovery of proprioception after EC in the general population.