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Related Experiment Videos

Therapeutic cooling: no effect on hamstring reflexes and knee stability.

Mark Melnyk1, Michael Faist, Lutz Claes

  • 1Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|July 11, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Therapeutic knee cooling does not negatively impact hamstring reflexes or anterior tibia translation in healthy individuals. This suggests cold therapy, as applied in this study, does not increase knee injury risk.

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Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Sports Medicine
  • Rehabilitation Science

Background:

  • Therapeutic cooling is common in knee rehabilitation, especially after anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
  • The effects of cooling on stretch reflexes, joint stiffness, and neuromuscular coupling are not well understood.
  • Potential alterations in nerve conduction and sensory organ function could affect knee stability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of therapeutic knee cooling on hamstring reflex responses.
  • To assess if knee cooling affects anterior tibia trajectory after induced translation.
  • To determine if cold therapy increases the risk of knee injury.

Main Methods:

  • 15 healthy volunteers underwent 20 minutes of knee cold therapy.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Hamstring short and medium latency reflex responses were measured via surface electromyography.
  • Tibia translation (distance and velocity) was assessed using a potentiometric position transducer before and after cooling.

    • Main Results:

    • Local knee cold therapy did not change the latency or size of hamstring short and medium latency reflex responses.
    • The extent and velocity of anterior tibia motion remained unaltered post-cooling.
    • No significant changes in neuromuscular coupling were observed.

    Conclusions:

    • Cold therapy, as applied in this study, does not adversely affect hamstring spinal reflexes.
    • The findings suggest that therapeutic knee cooling does not increase the risk of knee injury.
    • Neuromuscular coupling appears unaffected by the applied cold therapy regimen.