From: keg@strathspey.llnl.gov (Keith Grant)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Exercise/Stretching/Muscle Soreness
Keywords: soreness ibuprofen stretching
Date: 5 Sep 92 00:09:21 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Originator: keg@strathspey.llnl.gov


In article <1992Sep4.153458.6440@shearson.com>, esafern@shearson.com (Eric Safern) writes:
|> Hi,
|> 	I read a year or two ago in the NY Times science section an article
|> on exercise.  
|> 
|> The article seemed to claim that stretching beforehand was not effective
|> at preventing injury, although it did improve performance.
|> 
|> This seems counter-intuitive.  Has there been any further study of this issue?
|> 
|> The article also said taking one kind of pain reliever to mitigate muscle
|> soreness was far prefferable to the other (Ibuprofen vs. Aspirin)  but I
|> don't recall which was which.
|> 
|> It claimed if you take the wrong one, the muscles will not regenerate 
|> quite as well.  Does anyone know anything about this? 

I remember the conclusion that stretching doesn't help delayed onset muscle
soreness from the following article:

   Buroker, Katherine C.; Schwane, James A.
     Does postexercise static stretching alleviate delayed muscle soreness?
     Physician and Sportsmedicine v17, n6 (June, 1989):65 (8 pages).

The underlying mechanism was thought to be that microdamage to tissues had
occurred resulting in Ca++ leakage.  Stretching could not alleviate the
damage initiating the resulting inflammation and spasm syndrome.  An anti-
inflammatory pain-kill (aspirin or ibuprofen) should be more effective
than one without anti-inflammatory action such as acetaminophen.

There is an extensive review article by R.B. Armstrong on exercise induced 
tissue damage in the July or August 1992 issue of Sports Medicine.  
Some other articles on muscle soreness (including one on ibuprofen) are:

   High DM; Howley ET; Franks BD.
      The effects of static stretching and warm-up on prevention of
      delayed-onset muscle soreness.
      Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 1989 Dec, 60(4):357-61.
      
   Armstrong RB. Mechanisms of exercise-induced delayed onset muscular
      soreness: a brief review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1984; 15:529-538

   Smith LL.
      Acute inflammation: the underlying mechanism in delayed onset muscle
      soreness?
      Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1991 May, 23(5):542-51.

   Donnelly AE; Maughan RJ; Whiting PH.
      Effects of ibuprofen on exercise-induced muscle soreness and indices of
      muscle damage.
      British Journal of Sports Medicine, 1990 Sep, 24(3):191-5.

   Armstrong RB.
      Initial events in exercise-induced muscular injury.
      Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1990 Aug, 22(4):429-35.
      

Perhaps this will both help to answer your questions and lead to some
more followup discussion.

  +-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
  I                         I                                               I
  I Keith Eric Grant        I The interesting thing about a waltzing bear   I
  I keg@strathspey.llnl.gov I           is not how well it dances!          I
  I                         I                                               I
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  I For certain it is, that any ideas expressed above are of my own humble  I
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