Department of Chinese Traumatology Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404332, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 404332, Taiwan.
Pain Res Manag. 2022 Sep 30;2022:7592873. doi: 10.1155/2022/7592873. eCollection 2022.
Chronic neck pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder caused by overuse of neck and upper back muscles or poor posture, and it is commonly combined with a limited range of motion in the neck and shoulders. Most cases will recover within a few days; however, the symptoms often recur easily. Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN) is a new therapeutic approach used to treat patients with chronic neck pain. However, there is no solid evidence to support the effectiveness of FSN on chronic neck pain and disability.
Participants ( = 60) with chronic neck pain for more than 2 months with pain intensity scored by visual analog scale (VAS) more than five were enrolled in this trial. Participants were equally randomized into the FSN or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) group who received interventions once a day on day 1, day 2, and day 4. They were assessed by outcome measurements during pre- and post-treatment and followed up for 15 days.
The VAS was immediately reduced in the FSN and TENS groups and sustained for 15 days of follow-up (all < 0.001). The immediate effects were also observed as the pressure pain threshold increased in the FSN group on day 2 (=0.006) and day 4 (=0.023) after treatment, and tissue hardness decreased by FSN on day 1 and day 2 after treatment (both < 0.001). FSN and TENS treatment improved neck disability and mobility; moreover, FSN promoted participants to receive better sleep quality, as determined by PSQI assessment (=0.030). TENS had no benefit on sleep quality.
FSN was able to relieve pain and relax muscle tightness. Notably, FSN significantly improved neck disability and mobility and enhanced sleep quality. These findings demonstrated that FSN could be an effective alternative treatment option for patients with chronic neck pain. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03605576, registered on July 30, 2018.
慢性颈痛是一种常见的肌肉骨骼疾病，由颈部和上背部肌肉过度使用或姿势不良引起，通常伴有颈部和肩部活动范围受限。大多数情况下，这种疾病会在几天内痊愈；然而，症状往往很容易再次出现。浮针疗法（FSN）是一种新的治疗方法，用于治疗慢性颈痛患者。然而，目前尚无确凿证据支持 FSN 对慢性颈痛和残疾的有效性。
本试验纳入了 60 名慢性颈痛患者（疼痛强度用视觉模拟评分法（VAS）评分超过 5 分，持续时间超过 2 个月）。参与者被随机分为 FSN 或经皮神经电刺激（TENS）组，在第 1、2 和 4 天每天接受一次干预。在治疗前和治疗后进行结果测量，并进行 15 天的随访。
FSN 和 TENS 组的 VAS 均立即降低，并持续 15 天的随访（均 < 0.001）。在治疗后的第 2 天（=0.006）和第 4 天（=0.023），FSN 组的压力疼痛阈值也出现了即时效应，而 FSN 组在治疗后的第 1 天和第 2 天，组织硬度降低（均 < 0.001）。FSN 和 TENS 治疗改善了颈部残疾和活动能力；此外，FSN 治疗通过 PSQI 评估（=0.030）使参与者获得更好的睡眠质量。TENS 对睡眠质量没有改善。
FSN 能缓解疼痛，放松肌肉紧张。值得注意的是，FSN 显著改善了颈部残疾和活动能力，提高了睡眠质量。这些发现表明，FSN 可能是慢性颈痛患者的一种有效替代治疗选择。临床试验注册：ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符：NCT03605576，于 2018 年 7 月 30 日注册。
