Strenuous or unaccustomed exercise can lead to exercise-induced muscle damage and sensation of acute pain that can last for a number of days. Typically termed delayed-onset muscle soreness, pain can carry over to the next exercise bout and restrict movement if too little recovery is provided. In an attempt to gain a competitive advantage, ergogenic aids possessing analgesic properties have become commonplace to facilitate performance. Ergogenic aids are typically categorized by their mechanical, physiological, psychological, pharmacological, or nutritional mechanisms of action, and can be applied independently or in combination. It is pivotal that these ergogenic aids have an evidence-based underpinning for targeting exercise-related pain pathways. These insights are central to providing an individualized approach to optimizing recovery protocols and developing new ergogenic aids which possess analgesic properties.

The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers that use ergogenic aids, independently or in combination, to attenuate exercise-induced pain in humans. We hope the article collection provides insight into the administration of protocols, pain assessment tools, and identification of key mechanisms of action, which target pathways involved in relieving acute muscle pain.

These insights will help identify different analgesic methods aimed at facilitating recovery in different sporting contexts and at different time points along the recovery continuum based upon the origins of muscle pain. It is hoped that this will lead to the individualization of ergogenic aids for analgesic purposes.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:

•Research utilizing ergogenic aids to attenuate exercise-induced muscle pain.

- Environmental temperature (heating and cooling) and its application to reduce acute pain.

- Hydrotherapy including floatation devices and aquatic protocols, to provide relief from acute pain involving the central nervous system.

- Nutritional interventions and their mechanisms of action to limit delayed-onset muscle soreness.

- Topical treatments that can be used as analgesics as treatments for muscle pain.

- Mechanical or wearable ergogenic aids that utilize advances in technology to facilitate or limit exercise-induced muscle soreness.

• Assessment tools for providing valid assessments of exercise-induced muscle pain

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Frontiers in Pain Research

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