Effect of manual therapy in the management of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness : A Literature Review

ABSTRACT Background: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is commonly prevalent amongst the sportsperson. It leads to decreased athletic performance. There exists a controversy in the management of this clinical condition. Objective: The main objective of this literature review was to evaluate the effectiveness of manual therapy in the management of delayed onset muscle soreness. Methods: Literature search was performed on different databases namely Google Scholar, PubMed and Research Gate. The articles were screened between 2019 and 2024 with the keywords like “manual therapy”, “delayed onset muscle soreness”. This study includes only those articles which evaluate the parameters of delayed onset muscle soreness recovery like pain, range of motion functional recovery. The studies included in this review focused on various manual therapy techniques as a method of intervention. Result: After the screening of eligibility, abstract and full text, a total of 04 randomized controlled trails were included in the study. This literature review founded that manual therapy was effective in reducing pain and other parameters of delayed onset muscle soreness along with other interventions like stretching and cold water immersion. Conclusion: The study is inconclusive of any findings. More researches are needed to reach any firm conclusion. Keywords: Manual therapy, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, Massage therapy.