Simultaneous ice and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation decrease anterior knee pain during running but do...

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Rehabilitation Science
• Pain Management

Background:

• Anterior knee pain is common in runners and linked to altered running biomechanics.
• Experimentally induced anterior knee pain was used to study therapeutic interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the therapeutic effects of combined ice and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on experimentally induced anterior knee pain.
• To assess the impact of this combined treatment on pain reduction and running neuromechanics.

Main Methods:

• Nineteen healthy subjects underwent a pain induction protocol using hypertonic saline infusion into the infrapatellar fat pad.
• Perceived pain was recorded, and running neuromechanics were assessed at multiple time points before and after the ice/TENS treatment.

Main Results:

• The saline infusion successfully induced anterior knee pain.
• The ice/TENS treatment significantly reduced perceived pain by 35% for a limited duration.
• Pain reduction did not restore altered muscle activation patterns (gluteus medius, vastus lateralis/medialis) during running.

Conclusions:

• Simultaneous application of ice and TENS is effective in reducing experimentally induced anterior knee pain.
• This combined treatment does not restore running neuromechanics that are negatively affected by anterior knee pain.