Vibration therapy prevents muscle atrophy and improves motor skills

Vibrotherapy can be used successfully in the rehabilitation of elderly people to counteract sarcopenia and restore muscle strength, as well as by athletes during the recovery period. When applied regularly, it improves a person’s motor properties. In most scientific papers, researchers have used vibration at frequencies of 30 to 50 Hz, lasting less than 20 minutes due to its proven effect.

The aim of this study was to review the literature on the effects of vibration stimulus treatments on human muscle tissue. The study highlighted both the improvement in motor skills following vibration therapy and the applicability of this therapy to various conditions related to muscle tissue function.

• High-frequency mechanical vibration applied to human skeletal muscles contributes to generating a reflex response of sustaining the contraction of the vibration-treated muscle, while relaxing its primary antagonists. This response has been termed the Tonic Vibration Reflex (TVR Tonic Vibration Reflex).
• The vibration wave transmitted through the muscle activates vibration-sensitive muscle receptors, which engages a number of additional motor units with movement.
• Low-frequency vibration massage (15-50 Hz) increases oxygen uptake, blood and muscle oxygenation, local and systemic circulation, local temperature of tissues subjected to vibration and activation of enzymes of muscle metabolism.
• Vibration massage using high-frequency vibration (100-170 Hz) leads to an increase in excitability of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and an increase in blood pressure. This causes an increase in muscle tension and produces a rapid muscle stimulation effect.
• Vibrotherapy can be used in preventive programmes to compensate for lower limb muscle atrophy caused by physical inactivity during prolonged clinical bed rest, in rehabilitation or during space flight.
• Vibrotherapy treatments reduce the level of spasticity and increase the motor performance of patients with multiple sclerosis, hemiplegia and cerebral palsy.
• Whole-body vibration results in an enhancement at the neural level of reflex muscle contractions, which improves sports performance.

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