J.W. Myrer and Professor Kimberly A. Myrer, Physical Education

Cryotherapy, the cooling of an injured area, has been used in sports as well as physical therapy since ancient times. In order to be used effectively, a treatment time must be used that will produce optimal physiological effects at a specific tissue depth. As an insulator, adipose tissue has an inverse relationship on intramuscular temperature change. The exact nature of this relationship was the focus of my research.

The data collection was carried out as outlined in my original proposal except for the determination of each subject’s percent body fat. As we examined the purpose of the research we determined that this was unnecessary. While percent body fat is correlated with site specific adipose tissue depth, we were studying site specific effects of adipose. We therefore took only site specific adipose tissue because overall body fat had no direct relevance.

As we collected data each subject was verbally screened for allergies to cephelxin. Next a skin fold was taken over their left calf. A 5 cm square area was then shaved and sanitized on their left inner calf. Two probes were inserted so their tips lay at the middle of the calf muscle 1 and 3 cm below the adipose layer. Ice was applied for 20 minutes. Temperatures were recorded every 10 seconds for the duration of the treatment and then 30 minutes after the ice was removed.

In order to answer my research question, three groups of subjects were used. This task, though seemingly simple, was the greatest obstacle we had to overcome. Subjects were taken on a volunteer basis from both Physical Education and Nursing classes. The first (< 8 mm of adipose tissue) and third (> 20 mm of adipose tissue) were easy to fill due to their open ended nature. The second group ( between 10 mm and 18 mm of adipose tissue) was harder to fill. Many volunteers were turned down because their skin fold did not fit into an experiment group we needed more subjects in. An extra day of data collection was needed to fill the experimental groups.

All the data for the research has been collected, however the statistical analysis has not yet been completed. As we looked at the overall form of the data, it appears that our original hypothesis is supported. Once the tissue began to cool the rate of cooling was similar despite the amount of adipose tissue. However, the less adipose tissue there is, the quicker a cooling or reheating effect is seen. We look forward to the statistical analysis shedding more light on the degree of continued cooling after the removal of the ice treatment or relation to the amount of adipose tissue.

I intend to submit our research to the National Athletic Training Association for presentation at the annual national conference to be held at Kansas City, MS, in June of 1999. We also intend to submit our research for publication in the journal of Athletic Training.