Massage Therapy May Help Pain and Endurance Performance in Modern Pentathlon Athletes with Plantar Fasciitis.

Abstract

Plantar fasciitis (PF) is common among both sports and inactive individuals and several treatment approaches are available. There is no study that examines the effect of massage on PF in multi-discipline athletes such as modern pentathletes. This study evaluated the effectiveness of massage on modern pentathletes suffering from PF. Twelve male athletes between the ages of 18 and 25 who had a history of plantar fasciitis pain and participated in modern pentathlon sports took part in the study. Every athlete received a 15-minute deep friction massage (DFM) between 13:00 and 17:00 on each day of the week for 15 days. Before and after the massage, all athletes' pain and endurance levels were measured. For pain assessments, pressure pain algometry was utilised, and for endurance evaluations, the yo-yo intermittent endurance test was utilised. Athletes participating in the study before (3.5 (2-5)) and after (7 (6-8)) pain average measurements and before massage (830±60) and after (1498.33±52.88) endurance average measurements pretest-post It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between test values. According to the study, massage, an alternative therapeutic strategy, can be used to address the PF issue. To increase the accuracy of the findings and to assert that massage is the definitive treatment for PF, it is proposed that other sample groups with PF diagnoses be included in the studies, or that the treatment time for a single sample group be extended.