Calf massager: Intervention for body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing

Abstract

Many occupations require workers to stand for long periods of time without proper interventions, which causes discomfort in the back and lower limbs. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effectiveness in alleviating body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing through the use of a calf massager. This study was conducted among male workers at a manufacturer with production line workers and the list was obtained from the HR Department and simple random sampling was done by number categorization. A total of 100 respondents (50 respondents for both the control and the experimental groups) participated in this study. The experiment took place in a room with a similar setup for the production line. Each respondent was requested to perform the simulated task for 2 hr. For the experimental group, the calf massager was turned on every 15 min. At every 15‐min interval after turning on the calf massager, respondents from both groups were required to evaluate their discomfort level on a Borg's scale CR‐10 questionnaire. The results showed that the level of body discomfort among respondents in the experimental group reduced (20–30%) compared with that of the control group. Multivariate analysis results revealed that the discomfort rating for the lower back, knees, thighs, calves, and feet was significantly lower (p < .05) among the experimental group compared with the control group. For lower body parts, the lower back region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 90th, 105th, and 120th min; the thigh region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 120th min; the knee region was statistically significant (p < .05) at the 105th and 120th min; the calf region was statistically significant (p < .05) at all minute intervals except the 15th and 45th min, while the feet region, was statistically significant at the 105th and 120th min. Therefore, this study indicates that calf massage treatment is capable of reducing body muscle discomfort during prolonged standing and highlights the significance of calf massage.

Health efficacy of electrically operated automated massage on muscle properties, peripheral circulation, and physio-psychological variables: a narrative review

“…The study by Lee et al had also showed a decrease in HRV, cortisol and norepinephrine levels, although the changes did not recur 2 weeks after the end of study for all parameters except for the norepinephrine level. Yang et al [67] Wang et al [66] and Ramalingam et al [65] investigated the use of local vibration massage on pain management. The results were derived from questionnaires exhibited gradual improvement of pain perception throughout the study period.…”

“…However, the study also reported absence of any significant difference between massage group and vibration group on ROM (range of motion) and level of CK (creatine kinase). In another study by Anna et al [65], the effect of lower limb vibration on cyclist is documented. In this study, the authors applied vibration for 60 min after exercise, and reported a gradual decrease in blood lactate level as well as significant difference in other biochemical markers (IL-6, Mb, MMP-2) in experimental groups after intervention.…”

The development of a wearable device for relieving the lower leg muscles fatigue

“…For example, a device which apply pressure and massaging to the target muscle may increase blood flow to provide O2 to the working muscles. Researchers also suggest that treatment methods such as heat therapy, massage, and nutritional supplements can help with muscle fatigue alleviation [24][25][26][27][28].…”

“…Mental fatigue cannot be measured physically. Therefore, most of the studies utilize questionnaire surveys to examine subjective mental fatigue [9,10,28]. Besides, some may utilize the body part symptom survey form, or the visual analog scale in their surveys so that it will be clearer.…”

“…Besides, some may utilize the body part symptom survey form, or the visual analog scale in their surveys so that it will be clearer. The competence of using questionnaire surveys to investigate mental fatigue can be assured by the research of Ramalingam et al (2019). Their results show that there is statistically significant accordance among the discomfort rating of 100 respondents during a 2-hr standing test [28].…”