Comparison between cold water immersion therapy (CWIT) and light emitting diode therapy (LEDT) in short-term skeletal muscle recovery after high-intensity exercise in athletes—preliminary results

Abstract

In the last years, phototherapy has becoming a promising tool to improve skeletal muscle recovery after exercise, however, it was not compared with other modalities commonly used with this aim. In the present study we compared the short-term effects of cold water immersion therapy (CWIT) and light emitting diode therapy (LEDT) with placebo LEDT on biochemical markers related to skeletal muscle recovery after high-intensity exercise. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial was performed with six male young futsal athletes. They were treated with CWIT (5°C of temperature [SD ±1°]), active LEDT (69 LEDs with wavelengths 660/850 nm, 10/30 mW of output power, 30 s of irradiation time per point, and 41.7 J of total energy irradiated per point, total of ten points irradiated) or an identical placebo LEDT 5 min after each of three Wingate cycle tests. Pre-exercise, post-exercise, and post-treatment measurements were taken of blood lactate levels, creatine kinase (CK) activity, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. There were no significant differences in the work performed during the three Wingate tests (p > 0.05). All biochemical parameters increased from baseline values (p < 0.05) after the three exercise tests, but only active LEDT decreased blood lactate levels (p = 0.0065) and CK activity (p = 0.0044) significantly after treatment. There were no significant differences in CRP values after treatments. We concluded that treating the leg muscles with LEDT 5 min after the Wingate cycle test seemed to inhibit the expected post-exercise increase in blood lactate levels and CK activity. This suggests that LEDT has better potential than 5 min of CWIT for improving short-term post-exercise recovery.

Light-emitting diode therapy (LEDT) before matches prevents increase in creatine kinase with a light dose response in volleyball players

“…The effects of low-level laser (light) therapy on muscle tissue when applied before or after intense exercise are mainly related to the prevention of exercise-induced damage, promotion of faster muscle recovery, and also producing increases in performance [10,30,11]. The use of LLLT to prevent muscle damage has been widely investigated in experimental models [15][16][17][18][19][20] and in clinical trials [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Experimental studies have used animal models to induce muscle damage, and clinical trials have used protocols of exercise in isokinetic dynamometers, fitness machines, or free weight lifting to induce muscle damage.…”

“…Light doses (Joules, J) used in previous studies were between 1 and 6 J delivered per diode laser, totaling 4 J [21] or 60 J [22] delivered to the biceps brachii; 30 and 40 J [23] or 180 J [24] delivered to the quadriceps femoris muscles. When the light source was LED, these studies used a cluster of 69 LEDs and applied 0.3 or 0.9 J per LED, totaling 41.7 J per site of irradiation and a total dose of 41.7 J delivered on biceps brachii [25]; 83.4 J [26] or 125.1 J [27] or 208.5 J [28] delivered to quadriceps femoris muscles.…”

“…In order to investigate the effects of LLLT on Bmuscle protection^against exercise-induced muscle damage, different protocols of exercise or neuromuscular electrical stimulation have been used to induce muscle fatigue and damage in experimental models [15][16][17][18][19][20] and in clinical trials [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. These studies have evaluated different wavelengths and different light sources such as diode lasers and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [29].…”

The Use of Photomedicine in Musculoskeletal Pain

“…Clinically, researchers have disputed over the possible loss of coherency when subjecting laser light to human tissues and recently have shown positive outcomes when using lightemitting diodes (LEDs) (non-coherent light sources) in experimental muscle injury [84,85].…”

Los diferentes tipos de láser y sus aplicaciones en podología

“…Esta energía láser es absorbida y estimula las moléculas y los átomos de las células, sin llegar a causar un aumento rápido de la temperatura del tejido donde se aplica 5 . La terapia láser de baja potencia se usa en clínica como un coadyudante en el tratamiento del dolor, por su efecto antiinflamatorio, y para acelerar el proceso de curación de diversas patologías musculares 6,7 ,quemaduras 8 , heridas postquirúrgicas 9,10 , y úlceras crónicas 11 . El láser como terapia para la cicatrización de heridas se usa desde 1960, pero a pesar de llevar tanto tiempo en uso, sus resultados siguen siendo controvertidos.…”