Exercise Based- Pain Relief Program: Is there any Effect of Repeated Bout of Eccentric Exercise for Relieving Musculoskeletal Pain?

Exercise-based pain management programs are suggested for relieving from musculoskeletal pain; however the pain experienced after unaccustomed, especially eccentric exercise (ECC) alters people´s ability to participate in therapeutic exercises. Subsequent muscle pain after ECC has been shown to cause localized pressure pain and hyperalgesia. A prior bout of ECC has been repeatedly reported to produce a protective adaptation known as repeated bout effect (RBE). One of the main scopes of the current project was to investigate the adaptations by which the RBE can be resulted from. The approach in the current study was to use exercise induced- muscle damage followed by ECC as an acute pain model and observe its effects on the sensitivity of the nociceptive system and blood supply in healthy subjects. Then, the effect of a repeated bout of the same exercise as a healthy pain relief strategy on these parameters was assessed. This study indicated that unaccustomed ECC can lead to central sensitization. Central sensitization induced by an initial ECC probably demonstrates a mechanism for the tenderness in the muscle and pain during movement. A lack of central sensitization is seen after the repeated bout of ECC irrespective if the initial bout of ECC involved the ipsi- or the contr-alateral limb. Muscle oxygen re-perfusion does not play a major role in cross-transfer adaptations due to repeated bout of ECC.