Investigation of the Effects of Manual Therapy Techniques Used in Athletes on Performance and Recovery: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: Aim of this study was to examine the effects of manual therapy techniques used in athletes on performance and recovery.

Material and Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify studies evaluating the effect of manual therapy techniques on performance and/or recovery measures on athletes. The search was performed by combining the determined keywords with appropriate combinations. In our study, studies from 2010 to the present were examined.

Results: We identified 12 eligible studies examining the effects of manual therapy. Techniques used for manual therapy in athletes in the included studies; sports massage, muscle energy technique, thai massage, spinal manipulation, Swedish massage and deep transverse friction massage. There were 5 studies showing that manual therapy applied without using any assistive device in performance and recovery measurements had a positive effect on recovery, 1 study showing a negative effect, and 6 studies showing no effect.

Conclusion: As a result of the review, no clear evidence was found to justify the inclusion of manual therapy used in athletes in terms of direct improvement of performance and/or positive effects on recovery.

Keywords

• Manual therapy
• performance
• sport
• recovery

SPORCULARDA KULLANILAN MANUEL TERAPİ TEKNİKLERİNİN PERFORMANS VE TOPARLANMA ÜZERİNE ETKİLERİNİN İNCELENMESİ: SİSTEMATİK DERLEME

Abstract

Amaç: Sporcularda kullanılan manuel terapi tekniklerinin performans ve toparlanma üzerine etkilerinin incelenmesi amaçlandı.

Gereç ve Yöntemler: Manuel terapi tekniklerinin sporcular üzerindeki performans ve/veya toparlanma ölçümleri üzerindeki etkisini değerlendiren çalışmaları belirlemek için PubMed, Scopus ve Web of Science veri tabanları araştırıldı. Belirlenen anahtar kelimeler uygun kombinasyonlarla birleştirilerek arama gerçekleştirildi. Çalışmamızda 2010 yılından günümüze kadar olan çalışmalar incelendi.

Bulgular: Manuel terapinin etkilerini inceleyen 12 uygun çalışma belirlendi. Dahil edilen çalışmalarda sporcularda manuel terapi için kullanılan teknikler; spor masajı, kas enerji tekniği, thai masajı, spinal manipülasyon, İsveç masajı ve derin transvers friksiyon masajı olarak bulundu. Performans ve toparlanma ölçümlerinde herhangi bir yardımcı cihaz kullanılmadan uygulanan manuel terapinin iyileşmeye pozitif yönde etkisi olduğunu gösteren 5 çalışma, negatif yönde etkisi olduğunu gösteren 1 çalışma ve etkisi olmadığını gösteren 6 çalışma mevcuttu.

Sonuç: Yapılan derleme sonucunda sporcularda kullanılan manuel terapinin performansın doğrudan iyileştirilmesi ve/veya toparlanmaya olumlu etkilerin gösterilmesi bakımından sürece dahil edilmesini haklı çıkaracak net bir kanıt bulunamamıştır. 

Keywords

• Manuel terapi
• performans
• spor
• toparlanma

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