Acupuncture in Adolescent Football Players

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Acupuncture Therapy; Sports Medicine
• Interventions: Procedure: Acupuncture

• Registration Number: NCT03478800
• Lead Sponsor: Mayo Clinic

Brief Summary

Is it feasible to perform acupuncture in the training field after sport performance in adolescent football players?

Does acupuncture provide a decrease in muscle soreness and improvement in overall sense of well-being in the adolescent football population?

Detailed Description

Previous studies on the effects of acupuncture on performance and post-exercise recovery have shown that it reduces perceived pain arising from exercise induced muscle soreness and reduces muscle spasm. Acupuncture has also been shown to serve as an adjunct to improve muscle strength training and to accelerate recovery from workouts and injury.

The investigators' goal is to study approximately 50 high school football players in their true pre-season warm weather training environment. The investigators will measure the effects of acupuncture treatment on muscle soreness and overall sense of well-being by administering pre- and post-treatment surveys. Athletes will undergo five treatment sessions over the course of 2.5 weeks. The treatments will be performed by licensed acupuncturists employed at Mayo Clinic. The study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Mayo Clinic.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-06-15
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-03-23
• Study First Posted: 2018-03-27
• Study Start: 2018-08-13
• Primary Completion: 2018-08-29
• Study Completion: 2018-08-29
• Status Verified: 2018-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-11-07
• Last Update Posted: 2018-11-09

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 42

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

1. Acupuncture treatment within the past year
2. Known active musculoskeletal injury or condition, immunocompromised state, prosthetic heart valve, pregnancy or known history of bleeding disorder.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
High school football players and acupuncture	Acupuncture	50 healthy high school football players without active musculoskeletal injury

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in muscle soreness after post-exercise acupuncture therapy	immediately before and after acupuncture during the study period (2.5 weeks)	Musculoskeletal pain or soreness will be measured by a Football Acupuncture Survey designed by the investigators. Participants will first be asked if they had muscle soreness or pain in the last 24-48 hours and if so, if they used any modalities to alleviate it (ice, heat, massage etc) or medications (and if so, which ones). Participants will then be asked about the presence and location of current muscle soreness and to rate the soreness on a 10 point scale with 0 being 'no muscle soreness' and 10 being 'muscle soreness as bad as can be. After acupuncture treatment, they will be the same question. The investigators will evaluate the difference between pre- and post-treatment muscle soreness.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sense of well-being	immediately before and after acupuncture, during the study period (2.5 weeks)	'Sense of well-being' will be measured by a Football Acupuncture Survey designed by the investigators. Sense of well-being is defined on the survey as 'feeling content, happy, healthy, full of energy or relaxed while not feeling upset, anxious or fatigued.' Participants will be asked to rate their overall sense of well-being on a 10 point scale with 0 being 'as bad as it can be' and 10 being 'as good as it can be.' After acupuncture treatment, they will be the same question. The investigators will evaluate the difference between pre- and post-treatment sense of well-being.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mayo Clinic in Rochester; 🇺🇸 Rochester, Minnesota, United States