Extracorporeal shock wave versus cold therapy for delayed-onset muscle soreness: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Currently, no targeted treatment exists in clinical practice for delayed-onset muscle soreness. Extra-corporeal shock wave therapy is used to treat myalgia and holds the potential to manage other types of muscle pain and fatigue. We aimed to compare the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy and cold therapy in treating myalgia and dysphoria caused by delayed-onset muscle soreness.METHODS: This study was conducted at the Department of Rehabilitation of Shenzhen University General Hospital (Shenzhen, China). Fifty-eight participants exhibiting symptoms of delayed-onset muscle soreness were included. Participants were randomly assigned to the extracorporeal shock wave treatment group (N.=29) or cold therapy group (N.=29). The Visual Analogue Scale and rating of perceived exertion were used to assess the participants before, im-mediately after, and 24 hours after treatment. The main outcome measures were the Visual Analogue Scale, minimum clinically important difference in pain relief >1.4, and rating of perceived exertion scores.RESULTS: Immediately after treatment, the Visual Analogue Scale and rating of perceived exertion scores were lower in the extracorporeal shock wave group than in the cold therapy group. The total symptom duration was similar be-tween the two groups. Twenty-one participants treated with shock waves and 13 participants receiving cold therapy achieved the minimum clinically important difference immediately after treatment; 16 and 17 participants, respec-tively, achieved the minimum clinically important difference 24 hours later.CONCLUSIONS: A single shock wave treatment provided better immediate pain relief than did cold therapy; how-ever, the effect was short-lived and did not shorten the condition course.