The Effects of Local Hot and Cold Applications on Knee Joint Position Sense in Non-Elite Athletes: Experimental Study
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Objective: Many athletes who are slightly injured and
have pain during the game return to play immediately after a short cold
application. However, athletes who have recently recovered from in-
jury and still have hot applications also enter the play in a controlled
manner when necessary. This study aimed to explore the specific effects
of hot and cold applications on active joint position sense (JPS).
Material and Methods: Twenty-seven (14 males and 13 females) ath-
letes without any injury or complaint related to the knee participated in
this study. JPS measurements were repeated for both knees at target
angles of 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60°, before and immediately after the hot
application. One week later, the same tests were repeated with cold ap-
plication. Local cooling and heating were applied for 15 min, by using
gel-packs at 0°C and 44°C. Results: JPS was not affected by extrem-
ity dominance. The main effect of gender was significant only in 60°,
and females made lower errors. Although no differences were observed
before the hot and cold application, the absolute errors in all angles
were higher for the cold than for the no-cold condition and lower for hot
than the no-hot condition. Significant difference levels were at 15°, 30°,
45°, and 60° after the cold application, and at 45° and 60° after the hot
application. Absolute errors increased as the target angle increased in
all conditions. Conclusion: Results showed that hot application im-
proves the proprioceptive quality of the knee joint in athletes, but cold
application deteriorates