Changed activation, oxygenation, and pain response of chronically painful muscles to repetitive work after training interventions: a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to assess changes in myalgic trapezius activation, muscle oxygenation, and pain intensity during repetitive and stressful work tasks in response to 10 weeks of training. In total, 39 women with a clinical diagnosis of trapezius myalgia were randomly assigned to: (1) general fitness training performed as leg-bicycling (GFT); (2) specific strength training of the neck/shoulder muscles (SST) or (3) reference intervention without physical exercise. Electromyographic activity (EMG), tissue oxygenation (near infrared spectroscopy), and pain intensity were measured in trapezius during pegboard and stress tasks before and after the intervention period. During the pegboard task, GFT improved trapezius oxygenation from a relative decrease of −0.83 ± 1.48 μM to an increase of 0.05 ± 1.32 μM, and decreased pain development by 43%, but did not affect resting levels of pain. SST lowered the relative EMG amplitude by 36%, and decreased pain during resting and working conditions by 52 and 38%, respectively, without affecting trapezius oxygenation. In conclusion, GFT performed as leg-bicycling decreased pain development during repetitive work tasks, possibly due to improved oxygenation of the painful muscles. SST lowered the overall level of pain both during rest and work, possibly due to a lowered relative exposure as evidenced by a lowered relative EMG. The results demonstrate differential adaptive mechanisms of contrasting physical exercise interventions on chronic muscle pain at rest and during repetitive work tasks

MUSCLE TISSUE OXYGENATION, PRESSURE, ELECTRICAL, AND MECHANICAL RESPONSES DURING DYNAMIC AND STATIC VOLUNTARY CONTRACTIONS

5Dynamic muscle contractions have been shown to cause greater energy turnover and fatigue than static contractions performed at a corresponding force level. Therefore, we hypothesized that: (1) electro- (EMG) and mechanomyography (MMG), intramuscular pressure (IMP), and reduction in muscle oxygen tension (rTO(2)) would be larger during dynamic (DYN) than intermittent static (IST) low force contractions; and that (2) oxygen tension would remain lower in the resting periods subsequent to DYN as compared to those following IST. Eight subjects performed elbow flexions with identical time-tension products: (1) DYN as a 20 degrees elbow movement of 2 s concentric and 2 s eccentric followed by a 4 s rest; and (2) IST with a 4 s contraction followed by a 4 s rest. Each session was performed for 1 min at 10 and 20% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The force, bipolar surface EMG, MMG, IMP, rTO(2) were measured simultaneously from the biceps brachii, and the data presented as the mean values together with the standard error of the means. Comparison of the corresponding time periods showed the EMG(rms) and MMG(rms) values to be larger during DYN than IST (concentric phase: DYN vs IST were 14.2 vs 9.4, and 22.0 vs 15.9%(max)-EMG(rms); eccentric phase: in DYN, the MMG was approximately 1.5 and approximately 2.0-fold IST at 10 and 20%MVC, respectively). In contrast, the IMP of the concentric phase in DYN was lower than in IST (2.3 vs 29.5 and 10.9 vs 42.0 mmHg at 10 and 20%MVC, respectively), and a similar picture was seen for the eccentric phase. However, no differences were seen in rTO(2) in either the contraction or the rest periods. In a prolonged rest period (8 s) after the sessions, DYN but not IST showed rTO(2) above baseline level. In conclusion, rTO(2) in DYN and IST were similar in spite of major differences in the MMG and EMG responses of the muscle during contraction periods. This may relate to the surprisingly lower IMP in DYN than IST.reservedmixedVedsted P; Blangsted AK; Søgaard K; C. Orizio; Sjøgaard GVedsted, P; Blangsted, Ak; Søgaard, K; Orizio, Claudio; Sjøgaard, G