The Role of Arnica on Muscle Pain Following Eccentric Exercise (Arnica)

Arnica in a topical gel formulation will be compared to a placebo to determine whether it decreases muscle soreness following leg exercise when applied to the legs.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise; Muscles; Arnica
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Arnica Montana; Drug: placebo cream

Detailed Description

Design: The design is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Each participant will receive 2 containers of gel. One container will be marked "LEFT" and one "RIGHT." One container will contain a commercially available arnica gel formulation, and the other will contain a placebo gel, identical in appearance to the arnica. Subjects will not know which container contains which product. Each participant will also be given a form containing an analog pain scale for each leg. The participant will rate his or her pain in each leg separately on the day before exercise. Each subject will then be asked to perform calf raises using the following protocol:

• The participant removes shoes.
• Active range of motion of the ankle is measured bilaterally using a goniometer.
• He or she places the metatarsal portion of his or her foot on a step that is 7 inches above the floor. Handrails are provided for safety and comfort
• He or she then performs heel lifts by rising up on the stair using the foot on the stair, holds this for 2 seconds, then maximally dorsiflexes the foot for a count of 2 seconds. A metronome set to generate a tone every 2 seconds guides the pace of this.
• This is repeated 25 times, or until the subject is unable to complete a full cycle.
• He or she then performs the same sequence using the other leg.
• A second set of 20 repetitions is performed in each leg, followed by a final 15 repetitions.
• The gel is applied immediately after exercise to both lower legs. Subjects are instructed not to wash off the leg for at least one hour after application.
• The pain score is completed for each leg 24 hours later, and the gel is applied to each leg. Again, subjects are instructed to leave the gel undisturbed for at least one hour.
• Approximately 48 hours later the subject returns for measurement of ankle range of motion, again completes a pain score and applies the gel for a final time. Subjects are instructed to leave the gel on the legs for at least one hour.
• To measure muscle tenderness, a 1cm sphere is placed on the subject's mid-calf, and compressed by a standardized 5 pound weight. The subject provides a tenderness score for each leg using the same pain score.
• A final pain score is completed by each subject at approximately 72 hours.

Neither subjects nor the researchers doing the data collection or analysis will know which gel is associated with which formulation (placebo vs. Arnica). Controls are within-subjects.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 55
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77074
      • Memorial Family Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 18 or older
• two fully functional legs

Exclusion Criteria:

• allergy or sensitivity to the ester family
• open wound or inflammatory condition on legs
• chronic or acute leg pain
• neuropathy involving one or both legs

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: 1; arnica containing cream	Drug: Arnica Montana; Applied to lower extremity once a day for 3 days
Placebo Comparator: 2; carrier cream without arnica	Drug: placebo cream; placebo cream applied to leg daily for 3 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Muscle soreness	24 - 72 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Muscle tenderness	48 hours
Range of motion of ankle joint	48 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David W Bauer, MD, Memorial Hermann

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2007
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2007
• First Posted (Estimate): July 19, 2007

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 7, 2009
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 6, 2009
• Last Verified: January 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise; arnica; muscle soreness; eccentric
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Pain; Myalgia
• Other Study ID Numbers: HSC-MH-07-0202