Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate associations between skin surface temperature and pressure pain tolerance thresholds (PPTs) of asymptomatic individuals exposed to cryotherapy and thermotherapy.
Methods: Twenty-two asymptomatic female university students aged between 18 and 35 years underwent thermography and algometry assessments at 6 points in both knees before, immediately after, and 20 minutes after the application of frozen (cryotherapy) or heated (thermotherapy) gel bags in the right knee for 20 minutes. Data were analyzed by 1-way analysis of variance, Student t test, and Pearson or Spearman correlation tests.
Results: There was a significant change in skin surface temperature after cryotherapy and thermotherapy, which was maintained after 20 minutes of withdrawal (P < .001). After the intervention, no significant differences were observed regarding PPT compared with the baseline measurements, nor between the experimental and control knees.
Conclusion: Cryotherapy and thermotherapy produced significant changes in the temperature of the evaluated points after their application. No differences in pain tolerance were observed in these asymptomatic participants. There was little association between skin surface temperature and PPT in the knees of healthy women after application of the resources.
Author keywords: Pain; Cryotherapy; Hyperthermia, Induced, Thermography; Analgesia
Author affiliations: Master Program in Health Promotion, Adventist University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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