Skin Conditions of Baseball, Cricket, and Softball Players

Cross-sectional study on exercise-related skin complaints among sports students at two German universities

Sports activities can lead to exercise-related skin complaints. These include different symptoms (e.g. infections, mechanical injuries, contact dermatitis). Previous studies mostly focused only on skin infections and injuries in competitive athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and characteristics of exercise-related skin complaints among sports students and to what extent these complaints influence physical fitness. We performed a self-administered online survey among 259 actively exercising sports students from two German universities. Descriptive analyses were conducted. The most common complaints were blistering (57.3%), dryness (56.7%), redness (44.7%), and chafing (34.0%). Hands and feet (78.0% each) were most frequently affected. Participants whose skin was particularly stressed (47.5%) had higher training duration (7.6 h/week, 95%-CI 6.8-8.3 h) than those without complaints (5.1 h/week, 95%-CI 5.5-6.7 h, p = 0.003). The students reported reduced intensity (34.7%) and frequency (22.7%) of training due to their skin complaints. A reduction in performance was reported by 32.0% of the students. Actively exercising sports students considered an intact skin as essential for their physical fitness. Reported impairments of the skin led to a reduced intensity and frequency of training. To enhance the awareness of exercise-related skin complaints, further research is necessary.

Clinical evidence of 595 nm pulse dye laser treatment for viral warts on hands and feet

BACKGROUND

Viral warts, induced by infection by different HPV genotypes, are highly frequent in the general population, particularly during infancy and among adolescents. The effectiveness of the 595 nm Pulse dye-laser in treating viral warts on the hands and feet in both adults and children was investigated in this study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A selection of 203 patients with multiple viral warts was made. All patients underwent 4-5 treatment sessions with a 595 nm pulse Dye Laser (PDL). Treatment outcome was assessed by a quartile scale: 1 indicates no or low results (0%-25% of the lesion area cleared), 2 indicates slight clearance (25%-50% of the lesion area cleared), 3 indicates moderate-good clearance (50%-75%), and 4 indicates excellent clearance (75%-100%). Patients were asked for a subjective evaluation of the perceived overall results by means of the following score: unsatisfied (1), not very satisfied (2), satisfied (3), and very satisfied (4). Possible side effects were monitored. Results obtained were judged with a photographic evaluation, immediately and at the control visit (6 months after the last laser session).

RESULTS

All patients observed global improvements. Most of the lesions were completely removed after laser therapy. A total of 95% of patients achieved excellent clearance and they were very satisfied following the laser treatment. Relevant side effects were absent in all patients.

CONCLUSION

PDL treatment with the study device using a wavelength of 595 nm has proven to be a tolerable and safe therapy for viral warts management.

Sports Dermatology: Skin Disease in Athletes

There are numerous disorders of the skin that occur in athletes. These include infections, mechanical injury, and inflammatory skin diseases such as dermatitis, urticaria, and others. This paper discusses some of the most common athletic skin diseases.

Onychomycosis in Athletes

Onychomycosis is a common disorder that is difficult to cure. Prevalence is lower in children (0.7%), but athletes are 2.5-fold more likely to develop the disease, with infections of the toenails seven times more prevalent than those of the fingernails. This is a concern for athletes as it can interfere with their performance. The risk of developing onychomycosis is increased by the warm environment of many sports activities; the use of occlusive footwear; the warm, moist environment associated with socks and sweating; shared, close quarters among athletes; and trauma to the foot and toenail. Once infected, onychomycosis treatment requires a long duration of treatment with strict compliance, a potential problem for younger patients. Treatment carries the risk of significant side effects, and recurrence rates remain high. Avoiding infection can be a potent first line of defense and may circumvent the need for treatment. Preventive recommendations such as keeping toenails short and proper washing of laundry, to name a few, can be effective and are discussed here. Technological improvements such as synthetic, moisture-wicking socks and well-ventilated, mesh shoes have also been shown to reduce moisture and injury. Education about preventing fungal spread and improving hygiene in the locker room, gym, and pool are of critical importance. This overview of onychomycosis focuses primarily on the preventive measures and innovative changes in athletic gear. It also provides a compact step-by-step guide to prevention intended to be useful for both the general public and the professional. It can be reproduced to use as a handout for athletes, trainers, and coaches.

sEMG ACTIVITIES OF THE THREE HEADS OF THE TRICEPS BRACHII MUSCLE DURING CRICKET BOWLING

The aim of the present study was to analyze the surface electromyography (sEMG) activities generated by the three heads of the triceps brachii (TB) muscle among the different phases during fast and spin bowling. sEMG signals from the lateral, long and medial heads of the TB from 20 bowlers were measured individually during bowling. To analyze the sEMG activities, the root mean square (RMS) value in each bowling phase for every trial per bowler was calculated from the sEMG signals from the three heads of the TB. Higher sEMG activities at the three heads of the TB were found during the fifth phase followed by the sixth, seventh, third, fourth, second and first phases in both types of bowling. sEMG activities were significantly different among the three heads of the TB and among the seven bowling phases for both bowling types at an alpha level of [Formula: see text]. These findings will be of particular importance for assessing different physical therapies for the three headed TB muscle which can improve the performance in ball delivery of cricket bowlers.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE UPPER LIMB MUSCLES OF CRICKET BOWLERS: RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STUDIES OF OVERHEAD-THROWING ATHLETES

The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) to review the existing literature on electromyographic (EMG) analysis of the upper limb muscles of present overhead-throwing (OT) athletes during throwing and of cricket bowlers (CBs) during cricket bowling (CB) and, (ii) to discuss the importance of and generate recommendations for the EMG assessment of the muscle activity of CBs with respect to previous studies of OT athletes. A literature search of the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar electronic databases was performed to identify relevant articles published up to December 2012. This search was performed to evaluate the following areas, (i) what are the upper limb muscles that should be evaluated during OT sports and cricket bowling? (ii) what types of EMG methodologies have been used? (iii) what are the anthropometric, performance and physical functional variables that are usually selected? and (iv) what recommendations can be made for the assessment of the muscle activity of CBs? The search identifies 32 publications on OT athletes and 4 on CBs. The results note the following conclusions: (i) there are relatively few CB-related papers that utilize EMG, particularly for the assessment of muscle activity and coordination, (ii) a total of 22 upper limb muscles were investigated using EMG (from both criteria), (iii) surface electrodes are used more frequently than needle electrodes, (iv) most of the article normalized and analyzed the EMG amplitudes than the frequency, and the data was more often analyzed through a descriptive statistical analysis and (v) the majority of the studies analyzed the right limb of physically normal (uninjured) male's both the amateur and professional athletes that were 20 to 29 years of age. Finally, the published evidence on CBs is inadequate to validate a sound recommendation for the assessment of the muscles of CBs using EMG. However, the studies on OT athletes do provide guidelines that can be used to analyze CBs. The overall conclusion of this review show that, further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of EMG for the assessment of the upper limb muscle of CBs to ultimately identify and prevent injury which is still a matter of discussion in the sports medicine community.

Surface electromyographic analysis of the biceps brachii muscle of cricket bowlers during bowling

Cricket bowling generates forces with torques on the upper limb muscles and makes the biceps brachii (BB) muscle vulnerable to overuse injury. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in the amplitude of the EMG signal of the BB muscle during fast and spin delivery, during the seven phases of both types of bowling and the kinesiological interpretation of the bowling arm for muscle contraction mechanisms during bowling. A group of 16 male amateur bowlers participated in this study, among them 8 fast bowlers (FB) and 8 spin bowlers (SB). The root mean square (EMGRMS), the average sEMG (EMGAVG), the maximum peak amplitude (EMGpeak), and the variability of the signal were calculated using the coefficient of variance (EMGCV) from the BB muscle of each bowler (FB and SB) during each bowling phase. The results demonstrate that, (i) the BB muscle is more active during FB than during SB, (ii) the point of ball release and follow-through generated higher signals than the other five movements during both bowling categories, (iii) the BB muscle variability is higher during SB compared with FB, (iv) four statistically significant differences (p<0.05) found between the bowling phases in fast bowling and three in spin bowling, and (v) several arm mechanics occurred for muscle contraction. There are possible clinical significances from the outcomes; like, recurring dynamic contractions on BB muscle can facilitate to clarify the maximum occurrence of shoulder pain as well as biceps tendonitis those are medically observed in professional cricket bowlers, and treatment methods with specific injury prevention programmes should focus on the different bowling phases with the maximum muscle effect. Finally, these considerations will be of particular importance in assessing different physical therapy on bowler's muscle which can improve the ball delivery performance and stability of cricket bowlers.