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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 57 studies: contrast water and cold air ranked best for recovery

Chen and colleagues · BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024

Original title: The effects of hydrotherapy and cryotherapy on recovery from acute post-exercise induced muscle damage-a network meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Contrast water ranked best for creatine kinase (SUCRA: 79.9%). Cryotherapy ranked best for soreness (88.3%) and jump ability (83.7%). Authors recommend cold water immersion and cryotherapy.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
57 studies, 1,220 people · healthy people after exercise that damages muscle
What was tested
Cold water immersion, contrast water, warm water and air cryotherapy, compared with each other
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2024
Source
PubMed record 39294614. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 57 studies with 1,220 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: muscle recovery and mood

    8

    1 benefit, 1 mixed, 5 no difference, 1 harm

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    8

    2 benefit, 1 mixed, 4 no difference, 1 harm

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    3

    1 benefit, 2 no difference

  4. Population studies

    3

    2 benefit, 1 mixed

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does cold plunging help recovery and mood?”

Eases soreness a little; mood unproven.

Confidence: low. Based on 30 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer
  • Listed with the other papers, but not quoted in the page’s main findings.

Other reviews on this question

See all 30 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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