The effectiveness of thermal therapies on recovery rate after exercise induced delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS)

The overall aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of thermal therapies (HWI, CWI, HAI, and CONT) on the recovery rate following exercise-induced delayed onset muscle soreness in 40 healthy adults. Participants performed three MVC before and after, and exercise session to induce muscle damage, which involved eccentric knee extension contractions at constant angular velocities (30°/s and 180°/s) on an isokinetic dynamometer. Following this, participants underwent one of four thermal therapies: HWI, CWI, CONT, and HAI. Physiological (tympanic, muscle, skin temperature, and heart rate) and perceptual measurements (thermal comfort, and thermal sensation) were monitored during the therapy. Recovery indicators (MVC rates, pain and soreness levels, inflammatory markers (IL-r), and muscle damage (creatine kinase - CKMM), were measured at 24-, 48-, and 72-hours posttherapy. Among all therapies, HWI proved most effective for accelerating muscle strength recovery and reducing inflammation, despite having no significant impact on pain or soreness, suggesting repeated treatments might be needed. The findings from this study revealed HWI is the most effective method for enhancing the recovery rate of muscle strength and clearing inflammation compared to other therapies. Although HWI achieves faster recovery of strength (284.30± 22.04N·m vs. 243.70 ± 25.33N·m; p=0.35) and significantly accelerates inflammation clearance by 48 hours post-exercise (0.05±0.002 vs. 0.56±0.02 pg/ml; p=1.00), the differences were not statistically significant compared to cold water, hot air, or no thermal therapy. Therefore, hot water immersion should be favoured over cold water immersion, hot air immersion and no thermal therapy for recovery rate of strength.