Belmont SURFS

The Efficacy of an Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Prototype on Pain-Pressure Threshold in Recreational Runners

Runners of all skill levels are affected by stiffness and tenderness from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) when recovering from intense physical activity. To combat this, different treatments have been explored, including intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC). IPC promotes recovery by increasing blood flow within muscles. Pain-pressure threshold (PPT) is one way to measure the amount of muscle soreness athletes experience. When muscles are better recovered, PPT increases. In this study, we examined the efficacy of novel IPC calf sleeves that are smaller and more portable than standard IPC recovery boots. We hypothesized that the novel IPC sleeves will promote significant increases in pain-pressure threshold of individuals who experienced the intervention. We randomized participants into two groups of individuals that would either use the novel calf IPC sleeves or go through passive recovery after running to exhaustion. Pain-pressure threshold measurements were taken immediately before, immediately after running, immediately after the intervention, and 48 hours following the intervention. There was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group when considering the effectiveness of the IPC sleeves, according to a linear mixed model that assessed the PPT values over four time points. These findings suggest that pneumatic compression did not improve tolerance for pressure at the calf compared to those that did not use the device.