Cold water immersion of the ankle decreases neuromuscular response of lower limb after inversion movement

BACKGROUND Cryotherapy has been associated with a significant decrease in nerve conduction velocity and muscle contraction with possible effects on exercise and physical training. OBJECTIVES To quantify the electromyographic response of the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, fibularis longus, rectus femoris and gluteus medius to ankle inversion following cold water immersion. METHOD The peak values of the root mean square (RMS) were obtained from 35 healthy and active university subjects after the use of a tilt platform to force the ankle into 30° of inversion before, immediately after, and 10, 20, and 30 minutes after water immersion at 4±2°C, for 20 minutes. The Shapiro-Wilk test, repeated measures analysis, Bonferroni's post-hoc, and linear regression analysis provided the results. RESULTS Peak RMS was significantly lower at all times after cold water immersion, with residual effect of up to 30 minutes, when compared to pre-immersion for all muscles, except for immediate post-immersion for the gluteus medius. CONCLUSIONS After cold water immersion of the ankle, special care should be taken in activities that require greater neuromuscular control.