Effect of hot and cold applications on elbow proprioception

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cold application (CA) and hot application (HA) on elbow proprioception in healthy volunteers. CA and HA were applied locally during 15 minutes on the elbow joint and the effect was measured after that.

METHODS: A repeated-measure design with 6 (2x3) randomly assigned test conditions: 1) no application on 30 degrees angle; 2) after HA on 30 degrees angle; 3) after CA on 30 degrees angle; 4) no application on 60 degrees angle; 5) after HA on 60 degrees angle and 6) after CA on 60 degrees angle. A total of 82 healthy volunteers (35 women, 47 men) whose ages ranged between 18 and 28 years (20.93 +/- 2.13) were included in the study. Proprioception of the elbow was measured by using a digital goniometer with the technique of active joint position sense at the beginning of the study. The tests were repeated at weekly intervals after applying cold or hot in mixed order. Two target angles were defined 30 and 60 degrees of elbow flexion.

RESULTS: Reproduction errors were significantly decreased following HA in both target angles (P<0.017). Following CA, significantly increased reproduction error was found only in 30-degree target angle (P<0.017).

CONCLUSIONS: We obtained increased elbow proprioception following HA, which means increased proprioceptive acuity of the elbow but a decrease following CA in healthy volunteers. These findings may be useful in prevention and treatment of sports injuries, if supported by future studies.