Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training in Fear of Re-injury in Professional ‎Athletes after Anterior Cruciate Ligament‏ ‏Reconstruction

Fear of reinjury can have a devastating effect on an athlete's performance and can be a reason for an athlete to quit and compete. On the other hand, those who are more afraid of injury show greater landing error, so the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation training in fear of re-injury and landing error of professional athletes with after Anterior Cruciate Ligament(ACL) reconstruction.

Twenty-six professional athletes (13 women and 13 men) with a history of ACL reconstruction (weight average 66.80±1.75 kg, age average 22.47±2.45 years, heigh average 167.84±7.18 cm) were selected as accessible and purposeful and were randomly divided into control (13 athletes) and experimental (13 athletes) groups. Subjects completed their rehabilitation after a sports injury. In the first step, athletes with history of ACL reconstruction completed the Tempa scale fear of injury (Tempa Scale Kensiophobia; TSK-11) questionnaire. In second step, the subjects' landing error was measured by the Landing Error Scoring System (Landing Scoring Error System; LESS). The experimental group performed progressive muscle relaxation exercises. In the experimental group, the progressive muscle relaxation training was performed in 12 sessions (3 days a week) for 4 weeks and each session was 30-45 minutes. The control group did not perform any special activity during this time. The experimental group performed progressive muscle relaxation exercises in 12 sessions for 4 weeks and each session for 30-45 minutes. The control group did not participate in any of the therapeutic activities during this period and were engaged in normal daily activities. After the training sessions, all subjects participated in the post-test and the indicators were measured. Data were analyzed using Repeated measures (p < 0.05).

The findings indicated that fear of reinjury and landing error decreased after intervention and also there was a significant difference between the groups in fear of re-injury (p=0.001) and landing error (p=0.001) are statistically significant.

According to the research findings, it can be concluded that the progressive muscle relaxation exercises used in the research are an effective and low-cost method to reduce the fear of re-injury and also reduce the amount of landing error. According to the present study and the research conducted in this field, it can be concluded that the reduction of landing error and fear of re-injury may be accompanied by improved movement and kinematic mechanics of the joint, which can prevent re-injury and Athletes with a history of ACL injury can also help prevent recurrence. Therefore, it is recommended that professional athletes use psychological exercises to reduce the risk of re-injury following ACL surgery and rehabilitation.