Abstract:

Objective

To investigate the effect of auricular acupressure therapy on visual fatigue in shooting athletes.

Methods

Twenty-four shooting athletes suffering from visual fatigue from the shanghai shooting and archery sports center were included in this study.All of athletes were divided into two groups，treatment group and control group（n=12for each group）.The visual fatigue questionnaire，critical flicker frequency，the visual reaction time，the visuognosis persistence and the subjective fatigue grading were determined before and after treatment in athletes with auricular point sticking.Auricular acupressure therapy was used for athletes in treatment group.Data were analyzed with the paired t test and χ²test.Mean±standard deviation（）was used for measurement of data.P-values less than 0.05were considered significant.

Results

The total efficiency rate of visual fatigue in shooting athletes was 41.67%in treatment group after auricular acupressure treatment for two months.The forward-looking fatigue rate was（5.83±2.69）before treatment，which was significantly decreased after treatment（4.17±2.33，t=2.50；P﹤0.05）.The critical flicker frequency was significantly elevated after treatment（25.28±3.31）Hz compared with that before treatment（22.05±2.80，t=-5.42；P﹤0.01）.The visual reaction time was significantly decreased after treatment（0.52±0.09）s than that before treatment（0.70±0.07）s（t=5.58；P﹤0.01）.The visuognosis persistence was（57.97±13.73）%before treatment and（68.65±14.61）%after treatment，showing a significant increase（t=-2.42；P﹤0.05）.The subjective fatigue grading was significantly decreased after treatment（10.25±2.63）compared with that before treatment（12.75±2.93，t=2.21；P﹤0.05）.

Conclusion

Auricular acupressure therapy has a certain effect on relieving visual and mental fatigue in shooting athletes，and possess a correlation between them.

Key words: Auricular point sticking, Asthenopia, Mentalfatigue, Athletes