Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common response to exercise and a familiar experience for the elite or novice athlete. Symptoms can range from mild muscle soreness to severe debilitating pain. Although DOMS is a frequent phenomenon for many athletes and has been studied extensively for several years, there is neither a unifying theory to explain its underlying cause nor a treatment modality that produces significant relief from DOMS1,2,3.
Current theory suggests that eccentric exercise causes a micro tearing of muscle fibers and the damaged muscle elicits an inflammatory response4. This post-exercise inflammation creates further muscle damage and inhibits repair and recovery of muscle tissue. DOMS is most common when a new sport or activity is begun following a period of reduced activity and is most affected by eccentric exercise. Such exercise causes muscle fibers to forcefully contract while they are lengthening providing a "braking" action to the muscle. Running, weight training and downward movements such as squats and push-ups qualify as eccentric exercise. This forceful shift in contraction causes the microscopic muscle tears that seem to underlie DOMS.
The most effective treatment strategy is rest and allocating sufficient time for injured muscles to heal. However many athletes "train through the pain" and develop additional injuries. DOMS compromises normal muscle function leading to compensatory alterations in muscle sequence and recruitment patterns, which places undue stress upon muscle ligaments and tendons. This imbalance often leads to further injury and compromises an athlete's ability to train to their full potential. Since DOMS requires an athlete take time off from intense training, it takes consistently longer to achieve peak fitness levels.
Treatment strategies that diminish DOMS and speed recovery are crucial for every serious athlete. Unfortunately, there are few treatment strategies that yield consistent results. Traditional treatments include rest, ice, gentle stretching, and massage5,6,7, although these do little to speed recovery of muscle tissue. Non-traditional remedies include acupuncture8, hyperbaric chamber9, low intensity laser light10, and homeopathy11. These studies show a minor non-significant effect upon DOMS. Supplements such as fish oils and isoflavones12 also have no noticeable effects although there is a suggestion that antioxidant supplements may have a minor benefit3.
Currently the only clinically effective treatment is topical13 or oral administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, like ibuprofen14,15,16,17. Unfortunately, these drugs shut down the prostaglandin pathways necessary for proper recovery and healing.
Since inflammation is a key aspect of DOMS, some research has explored the role of the immune system in DOMS18,19,20,21, both as a marker of muscle damage and to suggest a treatment involving the immune system to minimize muscle soreness and aid recovery. This research has yielded varied results due to our limited understanding of the function of the immune system in exercise physiology. During DOMS, leukocytes infiltrate skeletal muscle and cytokine activity is altered. Levels of C-reactive protein, interleukins 6,10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and other cytokines increase in response to exercise suggesting that exercise elicits a response similar to the immune response due to a bacterial infection20. This close relationship between the immune system and exercise suggests that modulating inflammatory cytokine levels could be a plausible method to minimize DOMS.
A novel approach derived from hyperimmune science may prove to have unique benefits for athletes due to its modulating effect upon the immune system and subsequently upon DOMS. Hyperimmune science relies upon the principle of the passive transfer of immunity to naturally deliver immunoregulatory proteins. All mammals transfer immune factors to their young through their breast milk. These immune factors are able to support the function of an immature immune system. Chickens also transfer related immune components to their young chicks by incorporating these factors into their eggs22,23. Since each developing chick has to rely upon the factors present in one egg, each egg is a naturally concentrated source of immune factors. Simple stimulation of the chicken's immune system with heat-inactivated bacteria (pathogenic to humans) creates eggs that contain both specific immune factors as well as non-specific immune modulating components, which the human immune system can recognize and utilize to influence immune function.
While this new technology was created to balance the human immune system for optimal health, a wide variety of athletes have noticed a significant reduction in muscle soreness while consuming hyperimmune egg. This effect shows a consistent dose-response effect, with higher intake resulting in less muscle soreness which would be the expected result if hyperimmune eggs were able to reliably regulate immune activity. This implies that the primary mode of action of hyperimmune egg may be to regulate or influence inflammatory cytokines associated with DOMS. Immunoglobins and immune factors occur naturally in eggs and since eggs are a common source of protein in the human diet, "immune" eggs are a safe and economical source of specific immune factors24,25. Hyperimmune eggs also provide a nutritionally complete source of protein for optimal muscle repair and recovery as they have the same nutritional profile as a supermarket egg.
Much research remains to be conducted to document this effect scientifically, since most evidence collected thus far is anecdotal. However, based upon clinical trials in related areas of hyperimmune egg science, this appears to be a credible approach to minimize or potentially eliminate the effects of delayed onset muscle soreness in athletes.
References
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