Effects of Massage on Limb and Skin Blood Flow after Quadriceps Exercise

HINDS, T., I. MCEWAN, J. PERKES, E. DAWSON, D. BALL, and K. GEORGE
ABSTRACT
Purpose: At present, there is little scientific
evidence that postexercise manual massage has any effect on the factors associated with the recovery process. The purpose of this study
was to compare the effects of massage against a resting control condition upon femoral artery blood flow (FABF), skin blood flow
(SKBF), skin (SKT), and muscle (MT) temperature after dynamic quadriceps exercise.

Methods: Thirteen male volunteers participated in 3 × 2-min bouts of concentric quadriceps exercise followed by 2 × 6-min bouts of deep effleurage and pétrissage massage or a control (rest) period of similar duration in a counterbalanced fashion. Measures of FABF, SKBF, SKT, MT, blood lactate concentration (BLa), heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP) were taken at baseline, immediately after exercise, as well as at the midpoint and end of the massage/rest periods. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA.

Results: Significant main effects were found for all variables over time due to effects of exercise. Massage to the quadriceps did not significantly elevate FABF (end-massage 760 ± 256 vs end-control 733 ± 161 mL·min^-1), MT, BL, HR, and BP over control values (P < 0.05). SKBF (end-massage 150 ± 49 vs end control 6 ± 4 au) SKT (end-massage 32.2 ± 0.9 vs end-control 31.1 ± 1.3°C) were elevated after the application of massage compared with the control trial (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: From these data it is proposed that without an increase in arterial blood flow, any increase
in SKBF is potentially diverting flow away from recovering muscle. Such a response would question the efficacy of massage as an
aid to recovery in postexercise settings.

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: August 2004 – Volume 36 – Issue 8 – pp 1308-1313 – abstract

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Filed under: Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Massage, Petrissage, Recovery massage , blood flow, FEMORAL ARTERY, Massage, SKIN AND MUSCLE TEMPERATURE

Effect of Stretching on Sport Injury Risk: a Review

Hart L

OBJECTIVE: Effect of Stretching on Sport Injury Risk: a Review To assess the evidence for the effectiveness of stretching for the prevention of injuries in sports.

DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (1966 to September, 2002), Current Contents, Biomedical Collection, Dissertation Abstracts, the Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscus were searched for articles in all languages using terms including stretching, flexibility, injury, epidemiology, and injury prevention. Reference lists were searched and experts contacted for further relevant studies.

STUDY SELECTION: Criteria for inclusion were randomized trials or cohort studies of interventions that included stretching compared with other interventions, with participants who were engaged in sporting or fitness activities. One author identified 361 articles reporting on flexibility, methods and effects of stretching, risk factors for injury, and injury prevention, of which 6 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis.

DATA EXTRACTION: Three independent reviewers blinded to the authors and institutions of the investigations assessed the methodologic quality of the studies (100-point scale) and reached consensus on disagreements. Details of study participants, interventions, and outcomes were extracted. Weighted pooled odds ratios were calculated for effects of interventions on an intention-to-treat basis.

MAIN RESULTS: Reduction in total injuries (shin splints, tibial stress reaction, sprains/strains, and lower-extremity and -limb injuries) with either stretching of specific leg-muscle groups or multiple muscle groups was not found in 5 controlled studies (odds ratio [OR] 0.93; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.11). Reduction in injuries was not significantly greater for stretching of specific muscles (OR, 0.80; CI, 0.54-1.14) or multiple muscle groups (OR, 0.96; CI, 0.71-1.28). Combining the 3 ratings of methodologic quality, median scores were 29 to 60/100. After adjustment for confounders, low quality studies did not show a greater reduction in injuries with stretching (OR, 0.88; CI, 0.67-1.15) compared with high quality studies (OR, 0.97; CI, 0.77-1.22). Stretching to improve flexibility, adverse effects of stretching, and effects of warm up were not assessed by appropriate intervention studies.

CONCLUSION: Limited evidence showed stretching had no effect in reducing injuries.

Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 2005 Mar;15(2):113. – abstract

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Filed under: Injuries, Review article , injury prevention, review, Sport Injury, Stretching