Immediate Effects of Different Rates of Thoracic Mobilization on Pressure Pain Thresholds in Asymptomatic Individuals

A Preliminary Investigation Into the Immediate Effects of Different Rates of Thoracic Mobilization on Pressure Pain Thresholds in Asymptomatic Individuals

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02163590

Enrollment

Registered

2014-06-13

Start date

2014-03-31

Completion date

2014-07-31

Last updated

2015-03-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Spine Stiffness

Keywords

Spinal mobilisation, Pressure pain threshold, Thoracic spine

Brief summary

Passive mobilizations of the spine are widely used by physiotherapists in the management of neuromusculoskeletal disorders. There is a nascent body of work of the mechanical properties of joint mobilizations. Treatment dose is characterized by the direction of force applied, magnitude of force applied, frequency of oscillation, amplitude of displacement, repetition and time. Although the choice of better treatment dose is based on patient complaints and clinical reasoning, the comprehension of the effects of different parameters of joint mobilization will improve the decision making process. The optimal dose of treatment, however, is not already known. The primary aim of this study is to determine whether different rates of thoracic mobilization are capable to produces hypoalgesic effects, and secondarily investigate if such effects are local or widespread.

Detailed description

Healthy volunteers will be recruited and randomized into 3 groups. A 2Hz mobilisation group, a 0,5Hz mobilisation group and a Placebo group. The pressure pain threshold will be measured before, immediately after and 15 minutes after the intervention.

Interventions

OTHER2Hz mobilisation

This intervention will be applied for 3 sets of 1 minute, with 1 minute rest period in between each set.

OTHER0,5Hz mobilisation

This intervention will be applied for 3 sets of 1 minute, with 1 minute rest period in between each set.

OTHERPlacebo

Intervention that mimics the experimental procedures

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy asymptomatic subjects * Manual therapy naive

Exclusion criteria

* Any kind of history of trauma or surgery to the spine * Contraindications or precautions to manual therapy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Pressure pain threshold	Change from baseline imediately after, and 15 minutes after the intervention	Pressure pain threshold will be measured in five anatomic points on the spine, upper and lower limbs

Countries

Brazil

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026