COMPARISON OF SUSTAINED PRESSURE VS ISCHEMIC COMPRESSION ON TRIGGER POINTS IN CHRONIC MYOFACIAL PAIN MANAGEMENT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of different trigger points approaches in improving chronic myofascial pain. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from July-December 2016. Patients were randomly divided into two treatment groups through lottery method, in which 37 male participants who full filled the inclusion criteria (persistent pain 6 months, gradual onset of pain and impaired level of activity) were randomly allocated to sustained pressure (Group A) and ischemic compression (Group B) treated groups. Both groups received eight treatments sessions. They were th evaluated at baseline and after 8 visit through Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ). RESULTS: Within the group-A the pre and post-treatment mean for NPRS were 5.05±1.17 and 2.63±0.955 (p 0.001). Pre and post-treatment CPAQ activity engagement values were 32.00±2.42 and 41.74±2.53 (p 0.001). Pre and post-treatment CPAQ pain willingness values were 29.42±3.04 and 32.63±2.91 (p 0.001). Pre and post-treatment CPAQ sum was 61.42±3.67 and 73.84±3.64 (p 0.001). In the group-B pre and post-treatment value for NPRS was 5.28±1.07 and 2.39±0.77 (p 0.001). For CPAQ activity engagement, the pre and post-treatment values were 32.33±1.64 and 43.50±1.20 (p 0.001). Pre and post-treatment values for CPAQ pain willingness were 32.28±1.74 and 32.22±1.43 (p 0.05). Pre and post treatment values for CPAQ sum were 64.61±2.42 and 75.72±1.12 (p 0.001). CONCLUSION: Improvement in pain relief was observed in both groups but there was no significant improvement in pain relief between ischemic compression and sustained pressure groups.