The Effect of Acupuncture on Reducing Pain and Stiffness of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) following Eccentric Loading Exercise

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of acupuncture on pain and stiffness intensity and the symptoms associated with DOMS after 24 and 72 hours following the induction of DOMS. Design: A preliminary, randomized controlled single blind study. Methods: 22 healthy physiotherapists and podiatrists (10 female and 12 male) aged 21-48 years, were randomly assigned to an acupuncture intervention group or a non-treatment/control group. Immediately following the induction of DOMS, the treatment group underwent 20 minutes of manual acupuncture while the control group rested for 20 minutes. A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) were used to evaluate the experience and intensity of pain and muscle stiffness of each participant. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 25. Independent samples t-tests and Levene’s tests for homogeneity of variances were completed for all data sets. Results: This study demonstrated a significant (P < 0.05) effect of acupuncture in the reduction of pain and stiffness compared with the control group at 24 and 72 hours following the induction of DOMS. The acupuncture intervention group reported 79% less pain and 41% less stiffness than the control group 24 hours after the induction of DOMS and 80% less pain and 62% less stiffness than the control 72 hours following the induction of DOMS. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated the beneficial effects of selected acupuncture points in reducing both pain and stiffness 24 and 72 hours following the induction of DOMS. The findings of this study further indicate that stiffness may pose a greater problem to the recovery of athletes following intense exercise than pain; therefore, treatment should be aimed at reducing both pain and stiffness.