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Effects of low-level laser therapy applied before or after plyometric exercise on muscle damage markers: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 December 2016

Abstract

Promising effects of phototherapy on markers of exercise-induced muscle damage has been already demonstrated in constant load or isokinetic protocols. However, its effects on more functional situations, such as plyometric exercises, and when is the best moment to apply this treatment (pre- or post-exercise) remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) before or after plyometric exercise on quadriceps muscle damage markers. A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted with 24 healthy men, 12 at pre-exercise treatment group and 12 at post-exercise treatment group. Placebo and LLLT (810 nm, 200 mW per diode, 6 J per diode, 240 J per leg) were randomly applied on right/left knee extensor muscles of each volunteer before/after a plyometric exercise protocol. Muscular echo intensity (ultrasonography images), soreness (visual analogue scale - VAS), and strength impairment (maximal voluntary contraction - MVC) were assessed at baseline, 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Legs treated with LLLT before or after exercise presented significantly smaller increments of echo intensity (values up to 1 %) compared to placebo treatments (increased up to ∼7 %). No significant treatment effect was found for VAS and MVC, although a trend toward better results on LLLT legs have been found for VAS (mean values up to 30 % lesser than placebo leg). In conclusion, LLLT applied before or after plyometric exercise reduces the muscle echo intensity response and possibly attenuates the muscle soreness. However, these positive results were not observed on strength impairment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank to CNPq and UFCSPA by the research scholarships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiotherapy Department, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Rua Sarmento Leite, 245, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170, Brasil

    Carolina Gassen Fritsch, Maurício Pinto Dornelles, Lucas Severo-Silveira, Vanessa Bernardes Marques, Isabele de Albuquerque Rosso & Bruno Manfredini Baroni

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  1. Carolina Gassen Fritsch
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  2. Maurício Pinto Dornelles
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  3. Lucas Severo-Silveira
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Correspondence to Bruno Manfredini Baroni.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare they have no competing interests and the project had no founding sources. The study was approved by the institutional ethics in research committee (protocol number 924944) and was prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID NCT02493556). All volunteers have signed the written informed consent.

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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-2113-6.

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Fritsch, C.G., Dornelles, M.P., Severo-Silveira, L. et al. Effects of low-level laser therapy applied before or after plyometric exercise on muscle damage markers: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lasers Med Sci 31, 1935–1942 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-2072-y

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