Effect of Massage Therapy with Lime (Citrus Aurantifolia) Essential Oil on the Recovery of Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness in Athletes

BACKGROUND: Physical exercise is a systematic exercise to increase muscle strength achieve goals such as improving the athlete’s physical and preventing injury. Athletes must do is massage therapy to prevent muscle fatigue and pain due to physical exercise or during competition. The increase of lactic acid levels affects the maximum working ability of muscle fibers, decreases physical performance, and is fatigue in which the onset of pain. Lime essential oil as a topical oil contains high ester substances that have pharmacological effects such as natural analgesic effects to relieve pain. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of massage therapy with lime essential oil as a topical oil on the recovery of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in athletes. METHODS: The participants are boxing athletes, 30 men, 20–22 years old, and non-smokers. Participants were divided into three groups. The exercise group (E) was doing exercises and was not given massage therapy; the exercise massage (EM) group, namely, doing exercises and being massaged with ordinary lotion as a topical oil; and the EM lime (EMC) group did exercises and was given a massage with lime essential oil as the topical oil. RESULTS: The results showed that there was a significant difference in the average levels of lactic acid (p = 0.000) and the athlete’s pain intensity (p = 0.000) in the three groups, namely, the exercise group (E), the exercise and massage group (EM), and the exercise and massage with lime essential oil (EMC). CONCLUSION: This study finds that lime essential oil used as topical massage therapy oil is better for accelerating the DOMS.