Mohamed AA, Khaled E, Hesham A, Khalf A. Effectiveness and safety of subthreshold vibration over suprathreshold vibration in treatment of muscle fatigue in elderly people. World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(15): 3434-3443 [PMID: 37383890 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i15.3434]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ayman A Mohamed, PhD, Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef 32456, Egypt. dr_ayman_pt@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Rehabilitation
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Author contributions: Mohamed AA wrote and revised the manuscript; Khaled E participated in writing the manuscript; Hesham A revised the manuscript; and Khalf A drew the figures and participated in writing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ayman A Mohamed, PhD, Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef 32456, Egypt. dr_ayman_pt@hotmail.com
Received: February 4, 2023 Peer-review started: February 4, 2023 First decision: March 28, 2023 Revised: March 29, 2023 Accepted: April 20, 2023 Article in press: April 20, 2023 Published online: May 26, 2023
Abstract
Muscle fatigue is common in many populations, particularly elderlies. Aging increases the incidence of muscle fatigue and delays its recovery. There is a huge debate about the current treatments for muscle fatigue, particularly in elderlies. Recently, it has been discovered that mechanoreceptors have an important role as a sensory system in sensing muscle fatigue which could enhance the body's response to muscle fatigue. The function of mechanoreceptors could be enhanced by applying either suprathreshold or subthreshold vibration. Although suprathreshold vibration improves muscle fatigue, it can cause desensitization of cutaneous receptors, discomfort, and paresthesia, which are barriers to clinical use. Subthreshold vibration has been approved as a safe and effective method of training for mechanoreceptors; however, its use and effectiveness in muscle fatigue have never been tested or explained. Possible physiological effects of subthreshold vibration in the treatment of muscle fatigue include: (1) Enhancing the function of mechanoreceptors themselves; (2) Increasing the firing rate and function of alpha motor neurons; (3) Increasing blood flow to fatigued muscles; (4) Decreasing the rate of muscle cell death in elderlies (sarcopenia); and (5) Driving motor commands and allow better performance of muscles to decrease fatigue incidence. In conclusion, the use of subthreshold vibration could be a safe and effective treatment for muscle fatigue in elderlies. It could enhance recovery from muscle fatigue. Finally, Subthreshold Vibration is safe and effective in treating muscle fatigue in comparison to suprathreshold vibration.
Core Tip: Subthreshold vibration may be a safe and effective treatment in the treatment of muscle fatigue. this review discusses the possible effects of subthreshold in treatment of muscle fatigue which include: (1) Enhancing the function of mechanoreceptors themselves; (2) Increasing the firing rate and function of alpha motor neurons; (3) Increasing blood flow to fatigued muscles; (4) Decreasing the rate of muscle cell death in elderlies (sarcopenia); and (5) Driving motor commands and allow better performance of muscles to decrease fatigue incidence. In conclusion, the use of subthreshold vibration could be a safe and effective treatment for muscle fatigue in elderlies. Also. It could enhance recovery from muscle fatigue. Finally, Subthreshold Vibration is safe and effective in treating muscle fatigue in comparison to suprathreshold vibration.
