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Efficiency of farabloc in reduction of delayed onset muscle soreness

University of British Columbia

Farabloc is made of a series of ultra thin steel threads woven into a linen fabric. It is based on the same principle as the "Farady Cage" to shield external electromagnetic influences. The product was shown in previous research to have a beneficial effect on the reduction of phantom limb pain. However, whether this product can be used in muscle pain is still a question. The aim of this study is to test the efficiency of Farabloc in reducing delayed onset muscles- soreness (DOMS). It was proposed that Farabloc therapy would reduce exercise induced muscle soreness following injury. The first hypothesis is that exercise induced muscle soreness causes a local inflammatory response in the quadriceps muscle and Farabloc therapy will reduce the inflammatory response and pain sensation. The second hypothesis is that using Farabloc will accelerate the return of eccentric strength, reduced by DOMS. The experiment created DOMS, utlizing exercise on a Biodex unit, with a single blind crossover design and assessed the effectiveness of Farabloc on response of inflammation, strength and pain. Twenty subjects were divided into two groups—A group and B group. Both groups were treated by Farabloc or placebo in two experimental stages. All subjects were tested in a single blind design and covered their entire thigh area with either a 2 layer Farabloc or placebo wrap immediately following exposure to the noxious exercise. Pain was measured utlizing a visual analog scale and strength was measured on the BIODEX unit. Muscle damage and response of inflammation assessed by blood assay of creatine kinase (CK), leukocyte, neutrophil, myoglobin and malondialdehyde (MDA). Tests were taken at intervals over 5 days. Each stage of the experiment had four periods consisting of rest, exercise, treatment and post treatment. To consider the correlation between the variables statistical analyses used three separate two way MANOVA with repeated measures and one ANOVA with repeated measures on the parameters of different time periods. Significant defferences have found between stage 1 A group (farabloc treatment) and B group (placebo treatment) for the MANOVA analyses for pain and strength testing (p<0.001), CK with myglobin tests (p<0.001) and the MANOVA of WBC with neutrophil tests (p=0.003), and also the ANOVA analyses for MDA. In stage 2 the MANOVA of pain and strength testing (p=0.221), CK with myglobin (p=0.460) and leukocyte with neutrophil (p=0.204) had no significant differences between B group (Farabloc) and A group (placebo) but there was significant difference in ANOVA of MDA test between the two groups. The crossover studies showed there were significant differences between Farabloc treatment and placebo treatment in both groups (p<0.05) except for the MANOVA analyses for leukocyte with neutrophil in A group. It was concluded that the Farabloc appears to positively effect the recovery from exercise-induced muscle soreness.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-05-29

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8468

Human Kinetics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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