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Article
Does Deep Cervical Flexor Muscle Training Affect Pain Pressure Thresholds of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial
Rehabilitation Research and Practice
  • Pavlos Bobos, Hand and Upper Limb Centre
  • Evdokia Billis, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece
  • Dimitra Tania Papanikolaou, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece
  • Constantinos Koutsojannis, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece
  • Joy C. Macdermid, Hand and Upper Limb Centre
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2016
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1155/2016/6480826
Abstract

© 2016 Pavlos Bobos et al. Background. We need to understand more about how DNF performs in different contexts and whether it affects the pain threshold over myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). Purpose. The objectives were to investigate the effect of neck muscles training on disability and pain and on pain threshold over MTrPs in people with chronic neck pain. Methods. Patients with chronic neck pain were eligible for participation with a Neck Disability Index (NDI) score of over 5/50 and having at least one MTrP on either levator scapulae, upper trapezoid, or splenius capitis muscle. Patients were randomly assigned into either DNF training, superficial neck muscle exercise, or advice group. Generalized linear model (GLM) was used to detect differences in treatment groups over time. Results. Out of 67 participants, 60 (47 females, mean age: 39.45 ± 12.67) completed the study. Neck disability and neck pain were improved over time between and within groups (p<0.05). However, no differences were found within and between the therapeutic groups (p<0.05) in the tested muscles' PPTs and in cervicothoracic angle over a 7-week period. Conclusion. All three groups improved over time. This infers that the pain pathways involved in the neck pain relief are not those involved in pain threshold.

Notes
Copyright © 2016 Pavlos Bobos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The article was originally published as: Pavlos Bobos, Evdokia Billis, Dimitra-Tania Papanikolaou, Constantinos Koutsojannis, Joy C. MacDermid, "Does Deep Cervical Flexor Muscle Training Affect Pain Pressure Thresholds of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial", Rehabilitation Research and Practice, vol. 2016, Article ID 6480826, 8 pages, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/6480826
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Citation Information
Pavlos Bobos, Evdokia Billis, Dimitra Tania Papanikolaou, Constantinos Koutsojannis, et al.. "Does Deep Cervical Flexor Muscle Training Affect Pain Pressure Thresholds of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial" Rehabilitation Research and Practice Vol. 2016 (2016)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/joy-macdermid/79/