title: Comparing complementary alternative treatment for chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin: Collateral meridian therapy versus local tender area-related meridians therapy.
abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the short-term outcomes between 2 different treatments for unilateral chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin, that is, local tender area related meridians (LTARMs) treatment and collateral meridian therapy (CMT), which were performed 6 times over a period of 4 weeks.Seventy patients with unilateral shoulder pain of chronic myofascial origin were enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 different treatment groups: 1 group received CMT (n = 35) and the other received LTARM (n = 35). Before and after the 2 treatment processes, all patients rated their overall pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a validated 13-question shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) questionnaire was used to measure shoulder pain and functional impairment after therapy for 4 weeks.After CMT, the pain intensity was reduced after CMT. VAS score is reduced from 5.90 ± 2.07 (a mean of 5.90 and standard deviation of 2.07) to 3.39 ± 1.2. This was verified by the SPADI pain subscale scores (from 0.58 ± 0.193 to 0.33 ± 0.14). The pain-relief effect of CMT was significantly better than that of LTARM (VAS score from 5.78 ± 1.64 to 4.58 ± 1.40; P < 0.005; SPADI pain subscale score from 0.58 ± 0.16 to 0.45 ± 0.14, P < 0.001). In addition, the VAS scores of patients changed considerably in the CMT group after 4 weeks of treatment, where 63% of patients felt no or mild pain, whereas the VAS scores for moderate pain were even higher in the LTARM group in 75% of patients (P < 0.001). Moreover, the SPADI disability subscale scores improved significantly in the CMT group because of their greater mobility associated with shoulder impairment (disability score: from 0.58 ± 0.20 to 0.35 ± 0.14) than those in the LTARM group (disability score: from 0.55 ± 0.17 to 0.44 ± 0.14, P < 0.001).CMT may be more effective in reducing chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin than the LTARM treatment, where treatment with the former resulted in better functional recovery after 4 weeks than the latter.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Integrated Pain Management Center Department of Orthopedics, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology, Cathay General Hospital Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tri-Service General Hospital and National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China Ginza Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Ru-Yu
authors: RY
authors: Pan
authors: Yung-Chi
authors: YC
authors: Hsu
authors: Chih-Shung
authors: CS
authors: Wong
authors: Shinn-Long
authors: SL
authors: Lin
authors: Tsung-Ying
authors: TY
authors: Li
authors: Chen-Hwan
authors: CH
authors: Cherng
authors: Shan-Chi
authors: SC
authors: Ko
authors: Chun-Chang
authors: CC
authors: Yeh
mesh_terms: D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016740:Meridians; D008875:Middle Aged; D009209:Myofascial Pain Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D064232:Visual Analog Scale