Journal of bodywork and movement therapies
-
Due to a change in the production schedule of this journal, two issues of this article were due within a month of each other, which precluded the usual group of authors from contributing to the current paper, but they will participate in this review in the next issue. This overview includes several articles questioning the use of dry needling (DN) by non-acupuncturists, which continues to be a controversial topic especially in the United States. ⋯ The results were mixed and not necessarily consistent among studies. The research of the clinical management of TrPs is still limited, because of small sample sizes, insufficient power, the inherent risk of the introduction of bias, and poor study methodologies.
-
Clinical Trial
Neurophysiological and clinical effects of dry needling in patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points.
Dry needling (DN) is a widely used in treatment of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). The purpose of this pretest-posttest clinical trial was to investigate the neurophysiological and clinical effects of DN in patients with MTrPs. ⋯ A single session of DN to the active upper trapezius MTrP was effective in improving pain, PPT, NMJR, and SSR in patients with myofascial trigger points. Further studies are needed.
-
To evaluate the effects of Pilates exercises designed to improve isometric trunk extension and flexion strength of muscles in women with chronic low back pain (cLBP). ⋯ At 1 and 2 months after cessation of the Pilates exercise program the pain intensified and the functional state deteriorated much faster than the maximum trunk muscle strength. Therefore, it can be concluded that, to decrease pain and improve functional condition, regular exercise (and not only improved strength and endurance) is required. We established that, although the 16-week lumbar stabilization exercise program increased isometric trunk extension and flexion strength and this increase in strength persisted for 2 months, decreased LBP and improved functional condition endured for only 1 month.
-
Assessment in manual therapy includes quantitative and qualitative procedures, and intervertebral motion palpation (IMP) is one of the core assessment methods in osteopathic practice. The aim of this study was to explore osteopathic practitioners' experiences of clinical decision-making and IMP as a diagnostic tool for planning and evaluation of osteopathic interventions. ⋯ The study indicated that IMP was considered relevant and was given particular importance in cases where IMP findings confirmed clinical information attained from other stages in the diagnostic process as a whole. However, IMP findings were experienced as less important if they were not correlated to other findings.