Neck Pain, Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Conditions
Keywords
Physical Therapy Modalities, Myofascial Pain Syndromes, Skeletal Muscle
Brief summary
Neck pain is a prevalent musculoskeletal dysfunction. Studies point that individuals with chronic pain have metabolic, vascular and electromyographic changes in trapezius muscle. Moreover, a common clinical sign in this muscle in subjects with neck pain is the presence of myofascial trigger points. These are related to the sensory, motor and autonomic changes, being defined as palpable nodules located in the taut band of skeletal muscle. In this context, the focus on treatment modalities stands out in the literature, however, other resources commonly used in clinical practice still lack scientific evidence. Therefore, the aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of physiotherapy resources in the treatment of myofascial trigger points in the trapezius muscle of patients with neck pain. For such, volunteers with neck pain for more than 90 days, of both genders, aged between 18 and 59 years and bilateral myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius will be randomized into the following groups: group 1 (kinesiotherapy, n = 20), group 2 (kinesiotherapy + static ultrasound, n = 20), group 3 (kinesiotherapy + diadynamic currents, n = 20) and group 4 (untreated control, n = 20). Volunteers will undergo ten sessions of treatment, being realized the following evaluations: surface electromyography, infrared thermography, numerical scale of pain assessment, algometry, Neck Disability Index and skin impedance. For data analysis, normality test will used to verify the data distribution and consistent statistical test for the appropriate comparisons within and between groups, and thus considered two factors in the comparisons, time and group. Will adopt a significance level of 5%.
Interventions
Sponsors
University of Sao Paulo
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 59 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* neck pain for more than 90 days * aged 18 to 59 years * presence of trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle
Exclusion criteria
* history of trauma to the neck * surgery in the head, face or neck * herniated cervical * degenerative diseases of the spine * systemic diseases * underwent physical therapy in the last three months * analgesics, anti-inflammatories or muscle relaxants last week * medical diagnosis of fibromyalgia * body mass index (BMI) greater than 28 kg/m2 * signs and symptoms of depression
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pain | 3 years | Will be apply the following assessment tools: Neck Disability Index (assesses neck pain and disability), algometry (evaluates pressure pain threshold), and numerical scale of pain assessment (assesses pain intensity). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cervical range of motion | 3 years | Through a fleximeter will be evaluated movements of flexion, extension, rotation and inclination of the neck. |
| Skin temperature | 3 years | Through of thermograph will be evaluated skin temperature on myofascial trigger points. |
| Muscle activity | 3 years | Through surface electromyography will be evaluated the electrical activity of the upper trapezius muscle. |
Countries
Brazil
Contacts
Primary ContactRinaldo Guirro, PhD
Outcome results
None listed