None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The design of this study is a prospective single-blind parallel four arm randomised placebo controlled trial with repeated measures. The purpose of this study is to investigate various methods of acupuncture therapy in the treatment of myofascial pain in the upper trapezius muscle. This study is designed to test the following hypotheses; 1) There is no significant difference between needling locally and needling relevant distal points only in the treatment of myofascial pain; and 2) Needling a combination of both local and distal points is superior to needling either local points or relevant distal points alone in the treatment of myofascial pain; 3) Acupuncture is superior to placebo in the treatment of myofascial pain. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of four groups that will receive one of three types of acupuncture therapy, with the remaining group acting as a control group.
Interventions
There are 4 intervention arms including the sham control arm.
Group 1 (local point group) will receive needling to the primary local point/myofascial trigger point in the upper trapezius only. This group will receive a maximum of 2 needles dependant on whether their symptoms are unilateral or bilateral.
Group 2 (combination treatment group) will receive the same treatment as Group 1 with the addition of two distal points needled bilaterally (additional 4 needles). The most relevant points will b
There are 4 intervention arms including the sham control arm. Group 1 (local point group) will receive needling to the primary local point/myofascial trigger point in the upper trapezius only. This group will receive a maximum of 2 needles dependant on whether their symptoms are unilateral or bilateral. Group 2 (combination treatment group) will receive the same treatment as Group 1 with the addition of two distal points needled bilaterally (additional 4 needles). The most relevant points will be selected from the following pairings as determined by Chinese Medicine channel theory; SI3 & BL60, LI4 & ST37 or TE5 & GB34. This group will receive 5-6 needles dependant on whether their symptoms are unilateral or bilateral. Group 3 (distal points only group) will receive the same treatment as Group 2 with the omission of the local points in the upper trapezius muscle. This group will receive a total of 4 needles. All needling/intervention groups will receive treatment from an experienced registered acupuncturist, which will involve insertion of the needles and retention for 20 minutes followed by removal and disposal of the needles. Standardised rotational manipulation will be applied to each needle upon insertion, at 5 minutes, at 10 minutes and at 15 minutes. All treatment interventions will be performed on-site at the UTS TCM Outpatient Clinic.
Sponsors
University of Technology Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Self-selecting individuals assessed against a common criteria as experiencing myofascial pain in the upper trapezius muscle.
Exclusion criteria
Fibromyalgia Cervical disorder with radiculopathy Osteoarthritis Inability to consent Complex systemic disease Pregancy Contraindications to acupuncture therapy
Outcome results
None listed