The Efficacy of Lymphatic Massage on Lower Extremity Edema and Performance After Treadmill Exercise in Sprinter Compare to Static Stretching and Cold Water Immersion

Background: Lower extremity edema is often seen after exercise in healthy individuals, especially sprinters, in sports physical therapy practice. Edema is defined as the excessive fluid accumulation in the interstitial space. Recent studies showed that there could be an increase in fluid up to 31.2 ml after a 15-minute running bout in healthy individuals. Fluid accumulation may be resulted from (1) high intensity training, (2) compression of blood and lymph vessels due to increased soft tissue tension and (3) the effect of gravity. Lower extremity edema not only causes great impact on athlete's recovery and performance, it could also lead to fibrosis, dysfunction and contracture. The pilot study showed that lower extremity edema not only existed post-exercise, and decreased ankle circumference was found after a 5-minute massage session, not only when compared to the status after exercise, but also when compared to the baseline (resting). The result also showed lower extremity edema may exist both during resting and after exercise. However, no studies to date investigated the solutions to decrease lower extremity edema during resting and after exercise in sprinters. Massage has been proven beneficial to athletes by increasing range of motion, promote recovery and increase skin blood flow, however, no study investigated the effect of massage on lower extremity edema and compared that to different common recovery modalities such as cold water immersion and static-stretching.

Purposes: To explore the effects of massage on sprinter's gastrocnemius after running on edema and strength with immediate and short-term follow ups.

Methods: This study will recruit both male and female sprinters age between 20-30 years old who participate in the event of 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints. After individuals' enrollments and baseline data collections, all subjects will receive all three different treatments (massage, cold water immersion and static stretching) in randomized orders a week apart, respectively. Outcome measures are: visual analogue scale (VAS) score, lower leg volume, pressure pain threshold and horizontal jump distance. All measurements will be recorded at baseline, immediately after exercise, immediately after treatment, and 10 minutes after treatment as the follow up. Descriptive statistics will be used for participants' characteristics. Three-way ANOVA (3 treatments x 4 times x 2 legs) with repeated measures design will be used to detect differences, and post-hoc analysis will be used when interactions are identified. p value of < .05 will be used in this study.