Muscle Reaction Time During a Simulated Lateral Ankle Sprain After Wet-Ice Application or Cold-Water Immersion

Abstract

Context Cryotherapy is used widely in sport and exercise medicine to manage acute injuries and facilitate rehabilitation. The analgesic effects of cryotherapy are well established; however, a potential caveat is that cooling tissue negatively affects neuromuscular control through delayed muscle reaction time. This topic is important to investigate because athletes often return to exercise, rehabilitation, or competitive activity immediately or shortly after cryotherapy. Objective To compare the effects of wet-ice application, cold-water immersion, and an untreated control condition on peroneus longus and tibialis anterior muscle reaction time during a simulated lateral ankle sprain. Design Randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting University of Hertfordshire human performance laboratory. Patients or Other Participants A total of 54 physically active individuals (age = 20.1 ± 1.5 years, height = 1.7 ± 0.07 m, mass = 66.7 ± 5.4 kg) who had no injury or history of ankle sprain. Intervention(s) Wet-ice application, cold-water immersion, or an untreated control condition applied to the ankle for 10 minutes. Main Outcome Measure(s) Muscle reaction time and muscle amplitude of the peroneus longus and tibialis anterior in response to a simulated lateral ankle sprain were calculated. The ankle-sprain simulation incorporated a combined inversion and plantar-flexion movement. Results We observed no change in muscle reaction time or muscle amplitude after cryotherapy for either the peroneus longus or tibialis anterior (P > .05). Conclusions Ten minutes of joint cooling did not adversely affect muscle reaction time or muscle amplitude in response to a simulated lateral ankle sprain. These findings suggested that athletes can safely return to sporting activity immediately after icing. Further evidence showed that ice can be applied before ankle rehabilitation without adversely affecting dynamic neuromuscular control. Investigation in patients with acute ankle sprains is warranted to assess the clinical applicability of these interventions.

A prospective study of the muscle strength and reaction time of the quadriceps, hamstring, and gastrocnemius muscles in patients with plantar fasciitis

“…We believe that these results may be attributable to joint stabilization strategies in the lower extremity. Muscle reaction can be de ned as the muscle recruitment capacity for joint stability while performing a functional task; [29,30] thus, rapid muscle reaction time is an important factor for increased joint stability. [30,31] The quadriceps, hamstring, and GCM muscles all contribute to the stability of the knee joint.…”

The effect of repetitive ankle perturbations on muscle reaction time and muscle activity

“…Consecutive ankle perturbations of three (Berg et al, 2007;Thain et al, 2015), five (Cordova et al, 2010;Henry 4 et al, 2010), six (Hopkins et al, 2006;Hopkins et al, 2007;Palmieri-Smith et al, 2009;Mitchell et al, 2008;Vaes et al, 2002), 10 (Han & Ricard, 2011Lynch et al, 1996) and 40 (Lynch et al, 1996) have been reported in the literature. The number of practice tilts is also selected heuristically, with some studies incorporating one practice trial before the main testing commences (Fernandes et al, 2000;Henry et al, 2010), others reporting 'several' trials (Berg et al, 2007;Hopkins et al, 2007), and others have no mention of practice at all (Ebig et al, 1997;Han & Ricard, 2011;Konradsen et al, 1997;Lynch et al, 1996;Mitchell et al, 2008;Palmieri-Smith et al, 2009).…”

“…Peroneus longus activation provides a dynamic restraint against excessive inversion (Cordova & Ingersoll, 2003;Konradsen et al, 1997), whereas the tibialis anterior restrains excessive plantar flexion (Denyer et al, 2013;Mitchell et al, 2008;Vaes et al, 2002). Coordinated and correctly timed contraction of these muscles is vital in order to protect the ankle joint from injury (Berg et al, 2007), and is frequently referred to as a dynamic defence mechanism (Hertel, 2002;Konradsen et al, 1997;Thain et al, 2015).…”

“…The dynamic defence mechanism is typically evaluated by simulating a lateral ankle sprain (Eechaute et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2006;Wilson & Madigan, 2007), whereby the involved ankle undergoes a sudden perturbation into an inverted and/ or plantar flexed position, with the reaction time of the peroneus longus measured (Denyer et al, 2013;Konradsen et al, 1997;Thain et al, 2015). Studies have examined a variety of interventions aimed to improve the reaction time (faster) of the peroneus longus in response to the ankle perturbation in an effort to decrease the likelihood of injury (Cordova et al, 2010;Han & Ricard, 2011;Henry et al, 2010;Ramanathan et al, 2011).…”

“…Many studies investigate the effects of an intervention on neuromuscular control and use muscle reaction time as the outcome measure (Denyer et al, 2013;Thain et al, 2015).…”