Effect of Resonant Frequency Vibration on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and Resulting Stiffness as Measured by Shear-Wave Elastography

Abstract

This study utilized resonant frequency vibration to the upper body to determine changes in pain, stiffness and isometric strength of the biceps brachii after eccentric damage. Thirty-one participants without recent resistance training were randomized into three groups: a Control (C) group and two eccentric exercise groups (No vibration (NV) and Vibration (V)). After muscle damage, participants in the V group received upper body vibration (UBV) therapy for 5 min on days 1-4. All participants completed a visual analog scale (VAS), maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), and shear wave elastography (SWE) of the bicep at baseline (pre-exercise), 24 h, 48 h, and 1-week post exercise. There was a significant difference between V and NV at 24 h for VAS (p = 0.0051), at 24 h and 1-week for MVIC (p = 0.0017 and p = 0.0016, respectively). There was a significant decrease in SWE for the V group from 24-48 h (p = 0.0003), while there was no significant change in the NV group (p = 0.9341). The use of UBV resonant vibration decreased MVIC decrement and reduced VAS pain ratings at 24 h post eccentric damage. SWE was strongly negatively correlated with MVIC and may function as a predictor of intrinsic muscle state in the time course of recovery of the biceps brachii.

Keywords: biceps; delayed onset muscle soreness; eccentric; elastography; recovery; shear-wave; skeletal muscle; vibration; whole-body.

Figure 1

Example of shear wave elastography measurement at Pre (top = 42.65 kPa) and 24 h (below = 79.45 kPa) in an eccentric damage participant.

Figure 2

Semi push-up and hand positioning on the whole-body vibration platform.

Figure 3

Triaxial accelerometer position on the Vibeplate used to measure the input vibration along all three axes (X, Y, and Z) while loaded with a participant’s body weight in the position used for vibration intervention.

Figure 4

Perceived pain ratings using a visual analog scale. # = Control different from treatment groups (bars represent the 95% confidence interval values).

Figure 5

Change in maximal voluntary isometric strength. * = significantly different from control, # = V significantly different from NV, & = NV significantly different from control (bars represent the 95% confidence interval values).

Figure 6

Shear-wave elastography values by group over time. * = control different from treatment groups (bars represent the 95% confidence interval values).