None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Research Question: Does Visualisation Affect Pain and Function in Achilles tendonopathy (AT)? Pain is clearly a complex process and involves integration of multiple streams of sensory information. An area of recent research interest has been the integration of what a person sees to augment or moderate the pain experience. Visually-induced analgesia is a term used to describe the reduction of pain intensity by directly viewing one’s own body-part when painful stimulation is applied. In chronic low back pain for example, patients’ visualisation of their lumbar spine reduced pain with movement. We hope to explore this phenomenon to see if, and to what extent, it exists in AT, and to simultaneously investigate the effect of vision on tendon function – something which no study of visually induced analgesia has done before. The aim of this study is therefore to examine the effect of visualisation on pain and function in people with AT. To achieve this, we will assess pain and leg stiffness with hopping in people with AT while they view a video image of their leg and compare these results with a no vision condition. This study will help inform whether non-nociceptive information sources are important in influencing pain in a clinical condition while performing a functionally relevant task, reveal if any changes in pain are associated with functional performance changes and may inform management strategies for the management of AT.
Interventions
This study is a randomised cross over experiment in which participants will complete a standardised sub maximal hopping task of 10 hops on a portable force plate under two different conditions in random order. Participants will be asked to self pace a series of 10 hops at their own natural hopping frequency. The intervention will be administered by a Physiotherapist. The intervention condition involves hopping while visualizing their calf muscle and Achilles tendon. A live video will be projecte
This study is a randomised cross over experiment in which participants will complete a standardised sub maximal hopping task of 10 hops on a portable force plate under two different conditions in random order. Participants will be asked to self pace a series of 10 hops at their own natural hopping frequency. The intervention will be administered by a Physiotherapist. The intervention condition involves hopping while visualizing their calf muscle and Achilles tendon. A live video will be projected to a screen in front of the participant during the hopping trial. Participants will view their calf and Achilles in real time while they hop. An iPad will record the hopping trials and mirror the video to a screen placed in front of the participant. The washout period will be 15 minutes.
Sponsors
The University of Notre Dame Australia
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Crossover
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be included if they are a recreational runner with a history of unilateral mid portion Achilles tendinopathy for over 1 month. Participants must have sufficient English language skills to complete the questionnaires and be able to give consent to the test procedure. They must have normal to corrected vision so that they can undertake the visual feedback condition. In addition participants VISA-A score must be below 80
Exclusion criteria
Insertional AT will be excluded from this study. People with a non-painful hop test will also be excluded from the study. Participants with a history of foot or ankle injury or surgery within the previous six months or any coexisting lower quadrant musculoskeletal problem will be excluded. Participants with any report of clinically significant low back pain within the previous 3-months will also be excluded. Participants with active systemic disease such as diabetes or an inflammatory disorder and those taking regular analgesic medications will be excluded.
Outcome results
None listed