Efficacy of Therapeutic Ultrasound vs Myofascial Release in Treating Trigger Points of Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Comparative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37506/at3kyk45Keywords:
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS), Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP), Ultrasound, Myofascial release, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Palpable Muscle Spasm Degree (PMSD).Abstract
Background:
A pre-post experimental comparative study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound versus myofascial release in treating trigger points associated with myofascial pain syndrome. This study included 30 subjects diagnosed with myofascial trigger points who were randomly allocated into two groups. One group received an Ultrasound with a continuous mode for about 5-7 minutes. The other group received Myofascial release over the trigger points until the therapist felt the lowering of the resistance. Subjects in both groups received 12 treatment sessions, administered on alternate days of the week.
Aim of the Study:
To compare the efficacy of Ultrasound vs Myofascial release in treating Myofascial pain syndrome-related pain and stiffness over the trigger point region.
Materials and Methods:
This study employed ultrasound and myofascial release, and subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. Pain was assessed in terms of the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) subjectively and the Palpable Muscle Spasm Degree (PMSD) objectively. Pre- and post-intervention results were recorded, and the data were collected and analysed statistically.
Results:
In Group A, the pre-mean VAS was 7.73±0.704, and the post-mean VAS was 2.07±0.594. The pre-mean PMSD was 1.87±0.576, and the post-mean PMSD was 1.00±0.926. For Group B, the pre-mean VAS was 8.33±0.816, and the post-mean VAS was 2.40±0.910. The pre-mean PMSD was 2.13±0.640, and the post-mean PMSD was 0.600±0.910. The "P" value was <0.001. A weekly comparison of the mean VAS level in both groups was 4.60±0.138, with a "P" value of <0.001, which showed significant improvement across all 12 sessions (4 weeks).
Conclusion:
The study validated and concluded that both Ultrasound and hands-on manual therapy (Myofascial release) were equally effective in reducing pain and spasm in students with active Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrPs). The clinical relevance of these findings is that both techniques are highly effective for MTrP pain relief within a short period, while also being cost-effective, non-invasive, and providing symptomatic relief.
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