Effect of sports massage and thai massage on delayed onset muscle soreness and recovery

Objective: To investigate the effects of Sports massage and Thai massage performed 6 hours after plyometric exercise used for DOMS on DOMS symptoms, Method: The study consisted of 30 healthy, volunteer and untrained male individuals between the ages of 18-30 (2167±2.97 years). 30 individuals were randomly assigned to 3 equal groups (10 individuals each) and studied in a 3x3 crossover design. Either 20 min of leg massage (SM or TM) or passive rest was performed 6 hours after the plyometric exercise used for DOMS. All tests (POMS, Sit-Reach, PPT, VAS, DS and AP) were repeated in 3 periods and in 0, 24, 48 hours. SPSS was used for statistical tests. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The significance level was taken as p<0.05. Results: While VAS returned to the initial level after 48 hours in massage groups, it was still at a high level in passive group. In sit-reach test, decrease was significant after 24 hours due to pain in passive group (p<0.05). While there was a decrease in flexibility after 24 hours in SM group, there was no decrease in TM group. While flexibility increased above the initial level in SM and TM groups after 48 hours, it was still recorded at a low level in passive group. In VJ test, performance of passive group showed a significant decrease, it still did not return to the initial level until 48 hours and VJ performance of TM group was not negatively affected in contrast to SM group. PPT was recorded as significant decrease after 24 hours in all 3 groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: It can be said that both types of massage (SM and TM) have a positive effect on reducing DOMS symptoms and recovery.