[Objective]The purpose of this study is to evaluate an effect of electroacupuncture therapy on low back pain of collegiate athletes.
[Methods]Subjects were 28 collegiate athletes with low back pain who gave informed consent. They consulted a medical doctor beforehand. The electroacupuncture therapy was performed as acupuncture. The evaluation items were as follows:Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) which expresses the state of the pain (Pain-VAS), VAS which shows a training state (Training-VAS), five phases of evaluations to show a training state, pain at the time of the trunk movements, Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. The correlation of each item was estimated.
[Results]The chief complaint of 27 people was low back pain, and one person had pain of the low back and the lower extremities. In the diagnosis, 16 people had non-specific low back pain, 5people had lumbar vertebrae discopathy, and 3had a lumber vertebrae herniated disk. As a result of acupuncture, the training-VAS and five phases of evaluations to show the training state and JOA score were significantly improved. However, as for the pain-VAS and pain at the time of trunk movements and RDQ, a significant difference was not accepted.
[Conclusion]Training-VAS is useful for measuring the outcome of an athlete with low back pain. It is important that athletes with low back pain evaluate their training.

[Objective]The influence of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation on physical inactivity is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of EA on the recovery of mouse soleus muscle atrophy induced by hindlimb suspension (HS).
[Methods]We used 8-week-old male ICR mice (n = 20). The mice were divided into 4 groups:the No treatment group (NT, n = 5), HS group (HS, n = 5), Control group (CT, n = 5), and Reloading-with-EA-stimulation group (EA, n = 5). HS mice were suspended for up to 14 days. CT and EA mice were reloaded for an additional 14 days after the HS for 14 days. The HS method used a modified version of an apparatus used in a previous study. EA mice received EA every other day immediately after reloading and were stimulated in the triceps surae muscle at 10 Hz for 30 min with a stainless steel needle. The weight, muscle fiber area size and number of macrophages in the soleus muscle were analyzed.
[Results]The number of skeletal muscle macrophages was increased significantly in EA mice compared with that in CT mice (P < 0.01). The soleus muscle weight and muscle fiber cross-sectional area were decreased in HS mice compared with NT mice (P < 0.01). However, the muscle weight of EA and CT mice increased significantly compared with that of HS mice (P < 0.01). In addition, the muscle weight of EA mice was significantly higher than that of CT mice (P < 0.01), without a significant difference in muscle fiber cross-sectional area between CT and EA mice.
[Conclusion]These results indicate that EA was effective in facilitating the recovery of skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. In addition, resolution of the skeletal muscle atrophy suggested the satellite cell activation by macrophages, because macrophages invaded the skeletal muscle after EA stimulation.

[Objective] To report the activity by the athletic trainer in a collegiate boxing club, focusing on acupuncture for medical treatment.
[Methods] The athletic trainer was Japan a Japan Sports Association certifiedathletic trainer who was a practitioner of acupuncture and moxibustion. Subjects were twenty-seven collegiate boxers who participated for one year from April, 2004 to March, 2005.
[Results] The activity by the athletic trainer was performed for thirty two days. Medical treatment was performed up to 2.2 times a day. Seventy-one people were treated by the athletic trainer. Medical treatments were acupuncture 28 (39.4%), massage 24 (33.8%), taping 4 (5.6%), and partner stretch 3 (4.2%). Thirteen people (48.1%) had acupuncture. In acupuncture, fifteen people (50%) had a chief complaint in the hand.
[Discussion] Acupuncture was requested by the boxers. The continuation of the activity by the athletic trainer was required for boxing.