Dexamethasone iontophoresis: effect on delayed muscle soreness and muscle function.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pain alleviating effect of dexamethasone iontophoresis on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) produced via an eccentric exercise bout, and to determine the effect on muscle function. Baseline data were collected on 18 female subjects for maximum isometric knee extension contraction (MVC), knee extension peak torque (PT), knee extension work (W), and muscle soreness perception (SP). All values were subsequently reassessed 24 and 48 hours after a 10-min bout of bench stepping. Immediately following the 24-hr reassessment, the experimental (E) (N = 6) and placebo (P) (N = 6) groups received iontophoresis treatment while the control (C) group (N = 6) received no treatment. Percent deviation from baseline of SP was significantly less at 48 hours (p less than 0.05) for the E group compared to P and C groups. However, MCV, PT, and W were no different between the three groups at 48 hours post muscle soreness bout.