Bad vibrations? The prevalence of itch and erythema induced by whole body vibration training: a questionnaire-based study in users and therapists.

Background: The phenomenon of itch and erythema induced by whole body vibration (WBV) is extensively discussed in social media and popular press. The existence of this phenomenon has been confirmed in an experimental study by our group, however, its prevalence and dependency on technical settings (e.g. device, frequency, amplitude, intervals) has not been studied so far.

Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, multi-center study aimed to investigate itch and erythema in the use of WBV devices. Specially designed questionnaires were used to collect data on itch and/or erythema occurrence during WBV training, allergies, antiallergic drug intake, and technical aspects and settings of WBV.

Results: A total of 67 WBV users and 15 therapists administering WBV participated. Of the 67 WBV-users, 22% experienced either itch or erythema. A majority of those with itch also had erythema, which often appeared during the first session and persisted in subsequent sessions. No permanent discontinuation of WBV-treatment due to symptoms was reported. While symptoms were more prevalent for side-to-side alternating vibration devices with a pooled prevalence of 31.4%, no symptoms were reported for the tri-planar device (P<0.001).

Conclusions: In conclusion, itch and erythema may be underreported side effects experienced by WBV users, and appear to be related to the type of WBV device used.