Investigating Muscle Repair in Response to Icing Therapy Post Eccentric Muscle Damage Exercise

October 30, 2014 updated by: Christopher Chekay, Wilfrid Laurier University
The purpose of our research is to investigate the effects of applying cold therapy, or "icing," to injured muscles in terms of strength recovery and muscle soreness amelioration following unaccustomed exercise.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

The objective is to determine whether or not injured muscles that are subject to icing after eccentrically damaging exercise recover their strength quicker and/or have less muscle soreness than those that do not receive any icing treatment after damaging exercise and if any differences in effectiveness between two icing protocols exist. Baseline measures of peak torque of the dominant arm's elbow flexor muscles will be measured by concentric and isometric contractions prior to participants undergoing eccentric muscle damaging exercise. Participants will be randomly assigned into 3 different experimental groups of approximately 15 participants each. The first group will begin "Icing Protocol 1" at time 0 (or as close to). The second group will begin "Icing Protocol 2" six hours after their initial eccentric muscle damaging exercise. The remaining group will not receive any icing treatment; they are the control group. Participants will be brought back into the lab at specific post-exercise times (0h, 24h, 48h, 96h, and 7 days) to complete peak torque measures as they did with baseline measures prior to eccentric muscle damage. Measures of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) will also be taken at baseline and during scheduled follow up times for participants.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

45

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

    • Ontario
      • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
        • Recruiting
        • Wilfrid Laurier University
        • Contact:
          • Peter Tiidus, PhD
          • Phone Number: 3276 519-884-0710
          • Email: ptiidus@wlu.ca
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Chris G Chekay
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Justin D White

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 24 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy students attending Wilfrid Laurier University with no previous history of upper body muscle damage and live in close proximity to the University so they can attend all lab sessions. Ideally they have not performed any upper body resistance training within the last 4 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous history of muscle, joint, or ligament injuries in the surrounding area of their dominant are elbow flexor region.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control Group
Will perform the eccentric muscle damage exercise and will not perform any icing interventions post damage. These participants will be the control group.
Experimental: Icing Protocol 1
Will perform the eccentric muscle damage exercise and will begin the icing intervention immediately after the muscle damage. The icing protocol will be icing the elbow flexor muscles for 10 minutes with a cold pack followed by 10 minutes with no icing and another 10 minutes of elbow flexor muscle icing. The participants will perform this protocol every day at approximately the same time for the duration of the study.
Participants will be randomly assigned into 3 experimental groups. Icing Protocol 1 has participants apply cold packs under the supervision of the principal investigators to their elbow flexor region for 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, followed by an additional 10 minutes on, starting at time 0. Icing Protocol 2 follows the same procedure but it begins 6 hours after the participant has completed their eccentric muscle damaging exercise and is to be done at home without the supervision of the principal investigators. Both protocols require the participants to repeat their icing procedures every 24 hours until their involvement with the study is finished, which is 7 days in duration. The third experimental group is the control group and will not participate in an icing therapy during the duration of the study.
Other Names:
  • Cryotherapy
  • Cold Therapy
Experimental: Icing Protocol 2
Will perform the eccentric muscle damage exercise and will begin the icing intervention 6 hours post muscle damage. The icing protocol will be icing the elbow flexor muscles for 10 minutes with a cold pack followed by 10 minutes with no icing and another 10 minutes of elbow flexor muscle icing. The participants will perform this protocol every day at approximately the same time for the duration of the study.
Participants will be randomly assigned into 3 experimental groups. Icing Protocol 1 has participants apply cold packs under the supervision of the principal investigators to their elbow flexor region for 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off, followed by an additional 10 minutes on, starting at time 0. Icing Protocol 2 follows the same procedure but it begins 6 hours after the participant has completed their eccentric muscle damaging exercise and is to be done at home without the supervision of the principal investigators. Both protocols require the participants to repeat their icing procedures every 24 hours until their involvement with the study is finished, which is 7 days in duration. The third experimental group is the control group and will not participate in an icing therapy during the duration of the study.
Other Names:
  • Cryotherapy
  • Cold Therapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Peak torque strength measures determined using the CYBEX-NORM Testing and Rehabilitation System
Time Frame: Within 7 days post eccentric muscle damage
Within 7 days post eccentric muscle damage
Delayed onset muscle soreness determined using the VAS scale of perceived muscle soreness
Time Frame: Within 7 days post eccentric muscle damage
Within 7 days post eccentric muscle damage

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Study Director: Peter Tiidus, PhD, Wilfrid Laurier University, Faculty of Health Sciences

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

April 1, 2015

Study Completion (Anticipated)

April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 29, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 30, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

October 31, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

October 31, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 30, 2014

Last Verified

October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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