Effects of microcurrent treatment on perceived pain and muscle strength following eccentric exercise.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of low-volt, microamperage stimulation (LVMAS) on perceived pain and muscle strength following an intense bout of eccentric exercise. DESIGN AND SETTING: An experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used for the study. The experiment was conducted in the Lower Extremity Research Laboratory at Georgia State University. SUBJECTS: Twelve females and six males (mean age 27 +/- 5 yr). MEASUREMENTS: Subjects, randomly assigned to experimental (EXP, n = 6), sham (SHAM, n = 6), and control (CON, n = 6) groups, were tested before, and at 24, 48, and 72 hours following, an intense bout of eccentric exercise. RESULTS: Three two-way (group x time) analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with repeated measures on the last factor were used to analyze the data. A significant time main effect was identified. Results indicated that perceived pain was not reduced in the EXP group as compared with the SHAM and CON groups. Muscle strength in the EXP group did not return to the initial baseline measure more rapidly than in the SHAM and CON groups. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the use of LVMAS alone is not effective in reducing pain and increasing muscle function following an exhaustive bout of eccentric exercise.