Air-pulsed cryotherapy consists of the localized application of very cold air (–30°C) on the skin and the subepidermal tissues by convection.27 The magnitude of tissue cooling is a critical factor for reducing soreness, given that an analgesic response is obtained under a critical skin temperature of 12°C.3 Short application of very cold air was demonstrated to elicit a greater decrease of skin temperature than other techniques.9,27 Thus, it could be postulated that repeated applications of air-pulsed cryotherapy would be an effective means to enhance neuromuscular recovery subsequent to EIMD.
The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that 4 successive daily applications of air-pulsed cryotherapy would improve long-term (14 days) muscle recovery after EIMD. A multiapproach method consisting of evaluating muscle function (maximal torque-generating capacity), edema and the inflammatory process (DOMS, T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, creatine kinase [CK], interleukin-6 [IL-6], C-reactive protein [CRP]), and neuromuscular activity using multichannel electromyography (EMG) was used to follow the muscle recovery process throughout a 14-day period.