After a long or particularly tough workout, many people experience muscle soreness at some point several hours after the exercise. This effect is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS, whereby the strain put on muscles has left cell tissue damaged. Researchers at Loma Linda University and Asuza Pacific University are happy to report they have successfully used a method which can measure the degree of muscle soreness.
Finding muscle soreness scores is important when finding methods of curing the soreness. Soreness is a response to over-stimulation, when the demands placed on the muscle tissues is greater than the capacity of the muscle to recover from it in the moment. This creates a long lasting effect which can be felt later on. DOMS can occur anywhere from a few hours after training to 48 hours after training, and last up to 72 hours. The common belief that muscles “tear” to grow is slightly misleading, since it is actually tiny muscle fibres which are altering to allow for stronger re-growth.
Traditionally, determining muscle soreness was subjective; subjects responded verbally on a scale with verbal cues. This method left room for subjective error, something which science doesn't bode well with. Each persons perception of the pain is unique, eluding scientists of empirically measuring the degree of DOMS being suffered, thus making treatment testing subjective as well. With this new technology, researchers will be able to quantify DOMS, and study recovery methods more objectively.
Researchers used infra-red thermal imaging to measure subtle changes in the temperature of the skin just above the exercised and sore muscles. By measuring the tiny differences, they were able to measure, quantify and scale the various differences and changes brought on by exercise.
Reference
Journal of Visualized Experiments Retrieved January 2012 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123175703.htm
