• Xin Chen, Lisi Cha, Zhi Xuan, and Weiming Zhang.
• Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medical School, Shanghai, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2024 Apr 12; 103 (15): e37786e37786.

BackgroundChronic shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal problem associated with unreleased pain and functional dysfunction that can evolve into central sensitization. Some forms of manual therapy may exacerbate pain and central sensitization. This study investigated the impact of joint position sense therapy (JPST), a moderate joint proprioception training technique, on central sensitization, shoulder functional dysfunction, and pain in patients with chronic shoulder pain compared with more intense exercises or aggressive manual therapies.MethodsWe assessed the pressure pain threshold (PPT) in 30 patients with and 30 patients without chronic shoulder pain. The assessment focused on 4 muscle sites: deltoid, upper trapezius, brachioradialis, and tibialis anterior. Thirty patients with chronic shoulder pain were randomly divided into the JPST and control groups. The JPST group underwent additional shoulder joint position-sense training. The efficiency outcomes were the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire, visual analog scale (VAS), and PPT, evaluated at baseline and after the intervention.ResultsSignificant differences were observed in the PPT values at the brachioradialis (P < .05), deltoid (P < .01), and trapezius (P < .001) among the non-chronic and chronic groups, but not in the tibialis anterior muscle (P > .05). Although both control and JPST interventions effectively improved the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire score, pain intensity, and PPT values in the upper limb, the outcomes in the JPST group were significantly different from those in the control group.ConclusionsGeneralized hyperalgesia changes limited to the upper limbs were observed in patients with chronic shoulder pain. JPST has beneficial effects on pain control and functional dysfunction in patients with chronic shoulder pain.Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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