Introduction               

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) refers to skeletal muscles pain that follows prolonged repetitive eccentric exercises. The intensity of soreness starts increasing in first 24 hours and peaks at about 24 to 72 hours and subsides within 5 to 7 days following post-eccentric exercise. DOMS is a common ailment experienced many a times by most of the Individuals following unaccustomed activity of exercise. (Mac Intyre et al (1995)

It is proved that eccentric muscle contraction produces greater muscle soreness than concentric and isometric, and usually peaks at 448 to 72 hours post activity (Gulik and Kimura (1996). According to Cleak and Eston (1992) pain is not only the factor associated with DOMS but also there are associated laws of strength, loss of range of motion and swelling of the exercised muscle. In general, the sore muscles are described as stiff, tender, aching and decreased in muscle function.

Following repetitive eccentric muscle exercises, within 8 hours of initial injury chemo-attractants are released by the damaged muscle tissue. It attracts the neutrophils, which adhere to the endothelium of nearby blood vessels by a process called as margination. After adhesion, the neutrophils infiltrate into the muscle tissues and phagocytocise the damaged cells. If neutrophils function is not properly controlled, then the healthy muscle tissues maybe destroyed which can cause muscle damage. (Clarkson PM, 1999; Faulkner JA et. al, 1989 and Edwards SW, 1994).

Mechanical disruption and inflammatory response of muscle fibers activate type III and type IV pain receptors leading to the sensation of pain in DOMS (O’Conner PJ (1999). The degree of soreness mainly depends on the extent of tissue damage and also on types of exercises. (new ham, 1983; Clarkson et al, 1992; Ebbeling et al, 1989)

The maximal eccentric contraction of different muscle shows soreness rating scale of a different value. The differences in soreness values are consistent with differences in their prolonged force loss and increased in the CK activity in the blood. Soreness results in swelling and increased swelling in the muscle. It is also found that there is an increase in muscle fiber size and intramuscular pressure in soreness.

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Sriram Nelakurthy