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Background and Objective: The trigger point is the irritable point associated with a tight band of skeletal muscle which is painful against stress and strain. The real goal in treating trigger points is to achieve a degree of pain relief so that the sufferer can return to his usual activities and functions in spite of some pain. This study was carried out to compare of two methods of sports massage and cold stretch on the threshold of pain in passive trigger points in shoulder girdle muscles of the female volleyball players.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 32 females national volleyball palyer who has a latent trigger point in the shoulder girdle region were non-randomly divided into to three groups of sports massage (n=11), stretching along the cold (n=11) and control (n=10) groups. Threshold of pain test was carried out in two steps, prior and immediately after sports massage and stretching along the cold.
Results: The mean of pain threshold prior and immediately after the study in control group was 38.84±11.348 and 35.16±9.311, respectively. The mean of pain threshold prior and immediately after the study in sports massage group was 39.40±9.88 and 43.54±9.63, respectively. This differernce was not significant. The mean of pain threshold prior and immediately after the study in stretching along the cold group was 39.22±10.57 and 41.10±10.95, respectively. This differernce was not significant.
Conclusion: Sports massage and stretching along the cold did not significant effect on the threshold of pain in passive trigger points in shoulder girdle muscles of the female volleyball players.