Assessment of motor skill accuracy and coordination variability after application of local and remote experimental pain

Effect of kinesio taping in combination with vibration treatment on college students' delayed-onset muscle soreness

Objective: Kinesio taping (KT) and vibration treatment (VT) can alleviate delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) to some extent. However, the literature reports on the difference between the two treatments, and whether a joint intervention (JI) works better than single treatments remains unknown. This study compares the effects of KT, VT and JI on DOMS in college students. Methods: A total of 88 college students were randomly divided into the KT (KTG, n = 21), VT (VTG, n = 22), JI (JIG, n = 23) and control (CG, n = 22) groups. All subjects underwent DOMS moulding. The baseline; immediate and 24, 48 and 72 h visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and knee extensor maximum isometric voluntary contraction (MIVC) were determined. Results: The intergroup comparison showed the following results. 1) The VAS scores of the four groups peaked at 24 h and gradually decreased. The immediate, 24 h and 48 h VAS scores followed the order: JIG > KTG and VTG > CG. The 72 h VAS score followed the order: KTG < VTG < JIG < CG. 2) The knee extension MIVC in the four groups was lowest at 24 h and then gradually increased. JIG had larger immediate MIVC than CG. KTG, VTG and JIG had larger 24 h MIVC than CG. JIG had larger 48 h MIVC than KTG and CG. Conclusion: KT and VT can reduce muscle pain and strength loss caused by DOMS to varying degrees. VT is better than KT in improving pain. The combined intervention worked better than single interventions.

Motor Learning in Response to Different Experimental Pain Models Among Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review

Learning new movement patterns is a normal part of daily life, but of critical importance in both sport and rehabilitation. A major question is how different sensory signals are integrated together to give rise to motor adaptation and learning. More specifically, there is growing evidence that pain can give rise to alterations in the learning process. Despite a number of studies investigating the role of pain on the learning process, there is still no systematic review to summarize and critically assess investigations regarding this topic in the literature. Here in this systematic review, we summarize and critically evaluate studies that examined the influence of experimental pain on motor learning. Seventeen studies that exclusively assessed the effect of experimental pain models on motor learning among healthy human individuals were included for this systematic review, carried out based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. The results of the review revealed there is no consensus regarding the effect of pain on the skill learning acquisition and retention. However, several studies demonstrated that participants who experienced pain continued to express a changed motor strategy to perform a motor task even 1 week after training under the pain condition. The results highlight a need for further studies in this area of research, and specifically to investigate whether pain has different effects on motor learning depending on the type of motor task.