Trial reportJournal of athletic training
Topical menthol, ice, peripheral blood flow, and perceived discomfort.
Trial report in Journal of athletic training. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of post-exercise hot and cold-water immersion on performance recovery and physiological markers in athletes: a systematic review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Pooled it
- Mechanisms and time course of menthol-induced cutaneous vasodilation.Microvascular research · 2017Trial
- Topical menthol increases cutaneous blood flow.Microvascular research · 2016Trial
- Eccentric Exercise Guidelines for Managing Rheumatoid Arthritis: Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Biological Activity of Monoterpene-Based Scaffolds: A Natural Toolbox for Drug Discovery.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Repeated Menthol Mouth Swilling Affects Neither Strength nor Power Performance.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Current Knowledge on the Vascular Effects of Menthol.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Review
- A cooling cuff compared to a moist ice pack on radial artery blood flow and lumen diameter in healthy participants.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2018Article
- The Vasodilator Effect of a Cream Containing 10% Menthol and 15% Methyl Salicylate on Random-Pattern Skin Flaps in Rats.Archives of plastic surgery · 2015Article
- Effects of lymphatic drainage and local cryo exposition regeneration after high-intensive exercises.Muscles, ligaments and tendons journalArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextInjury management commonly includes decreasing arterial blood flow to the affected site in an attempt to reduce microvascular blood flow and edema and limit the induction of inflammation. Applied separately, ice and menthol gel decrease arterial blood flow, but the combined effects of ice and menthol gel on arterial blood flow are unknown.
objectivesTo compare radial artery blood flow, arterial diameter, and perceived discomfort before and after the application of 1 of 4 treatment conditions.
designExperimental crossover design.
settingClinical laboratory. PARTICIPANTS OR OTHER
participantsTen healthy men, 9 healthy women (mean age = 25.68 years, mean height = 1.73 m, mean weight = 76.73 kg). INTERVENTION(S): Four treatment conditions were randomly applied for 20 minutes to the right forearm of participants on 4 different days separated by at least 24 hours: (1) 3.5 mL menthol gel, (2) 0.5 kg of crushed ice, (3) 3.5 mL of menthol gel and 0.5 kg of crushed ice, or (4) no treatment (control). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Using high-resolution ultrasound, we measured right radial artery diameter (cm) and blood flow (mL/min) every 5 minutes for 20 minutes after the treatment was applied. Discomfort with the treatment was documented using a 1-to-10 intensity scale.
resultsRadial artery blood flow decreased (P < .05) from baseline in the ice (-20% to -24%), menthol (-17% to -24%), and ice and menthol (-36% to -39%) treatments but not in the control (3% to 9%) at 5, 10, and 15 minutes. At 20 minutes after baseline, only the ice (-27%) and combined ice and menthol (-38%) treatments exhibited reductions in blood flow (P < .05). Discomfort was less with menthol than with the ice treatment at 5, 10, and 20 minutes after application (P < .05). Arterial diameter and heart rate did not change.
conclusionsThe application of 3.5 mL of menthol was similar to the application of 0.5 kg of crushed ice in reducing peripheral blood flood. Combining crushed ice with menthol appeared to have an additive effect on reducing blood flow.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.