Effect of physical training on function of chronically painful muscles: a randomized controlled trial
One article on PainSci cites Andersen 2008: Strength Training for Pain & Injury Rehab
PainSci commentary on Andersen 2008: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
This simple test of strength training as therapy for shoulder pain had positive results in 42 women with shoulder pain, researchers found that “specific strength training relieved pain and increases maximal activity.” Indeed, their pain was reduced 42–49%, and this result was less than 5% likely to be due to random chance.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Pain and tenderness of the upper trapezius muscle is frequent in several occupational groups. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of three contrasting interventions on muscle function and pain in women with trapezius myalgia.
A group of employed women (n = 42) with a clinical diagnosis of trapezius myalgia participated in a 10-wk randomized controlled intervention: specific strength training of the neck/shoulder muscles, general fitness training performed as leg bicycling, or a reference intervention without physical activity. Torque and electromyography (EMG) were recorded during maximal shoulder abductions in an isokinetic dynamometer at -60, 60, 0, and 180 degrees /s. Furthermore, a submaximal reference contraction with only the load of the arms was performed.
Significant changes were observed only in the specific strength training group. Pain decreased by 42–49% (P < 0.01-0.05). Whereas the EMG activity of the unaffected deltoid remained unchanged during the maximal contractions, an increase in EMG amplitude (42-86%; P < 0.001-0.05) and median power frequency (19%; P < 0.001) were observed for the painful trapezius muscle. Correspondingly, torque increased by 18-53% (P < 0.001-0.05). EMG during the reference contraction decreased significantly for both the trapezius and deltoid muscles (P < 0.01).
In conclusion, specific strength training relieves pain and increases maximal activity specifically of the painful trapezius muscle, leading to increased shoulder abduction strength in women with trapezius myalgia. Furthermore, decreased relative workload may indirectly augment pain reduction.
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- “Dose-Response Relationship of Specific Training to Reduce Chronic Neck Pain and Disability,” R Nikander, E Mälkiä, J Parkkari, A Heinonen, H Starck, and J Ylinen, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2006.
- “Stretching exercises vs manual therapy in treatment of chronic neck pain: a randomized, controlled cross-over trial,” Jari Ylinen, Hannu Kautiainen, Kaija Wiren, and Arja Hakkinen, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2007.
- “Effect of neck exercises on cervicogenic headache: a randomized controlled trial,” Jari Ylinen, Riku Nikander, Matti Nykänen, Hannu Kautiainen, and Arja Häkkinen, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2010.
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- “Effects of neck muscle training in women with chronic neck pain: one-year follow-up study,” J J Ylinen, A H Häkkinen, E P Takala, M J Nykänen, H J Kautiainen, E A Mälkiä, T H Pohjolainen, S L Karppi, and O V Airaksinen, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 2006.
- “Neck muscle training in the treatment of chronic neck pain: a three-year follow-up study,” J Ylinen, A Häkkinen, M Nykänen, H Kautiainen, and E-P Takala, Europa Medicophysica, 2007.
- “Dose-Response Relationship of Specific Training to Reduce Chronic Neck Pain and Disability,” R Nikander, E Mälkiä, J Parkkari, A Heinonen, H Starck, and J Ylinen, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2006.
- “Effect of therapeutic exercise on pain and disability in the management of chronic nonspecific neck pain: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials,” Lucia Bertozzi, Ivan Gardenghi, Francesca Turoni, Jorge Hugo Villafañe, Francesco Capra, Andrew A Guccione, and Paolo Pillastrini, Physical Therapy, 2013.
- “Long-term effects of therapeutic exercise on nonspecific chronic neck pain: a literature review,” Chih-Hsiu Cheng, Hao-Tsung Su, Ling-Wei Yen, Wen-Yu Liu, and Hsin-Yi Kathy Cheng, J Phys Ther Sci, 2015.
- “Exercises for mechanical neck disorders,” Gross, Anita and Kay, Theresa M and Paquin, Jean-Philippe and Blanchette, Samuel and Lalonde, Patrick and Christie, Trevor and Dupont, Genevieve and Graham, Nadine and Burnie, Stephen J and Gelley, Geoff and Goldsmith, Charles H and Forget, Mario and Hoving, Jan L and Brønfort, Gert and Santaguida, Pasqualina L and {Cervical Overview Group}, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015.
- “The effects of training and detraining after an 8 month resistance and stretching training program on forward head and protracted shoulder postures in adolescents: Randomised controlled study,” R M Ruivo, A I Carita, and P Pezarat-Correia, Manual Therapy, 2015.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Association of Lumbar MRI Findings with Current and Future Back Pain in a Population-based Cohort Study. Kasch 2022 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Yousef 2013 Anaesthesia.
- Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.
- Sudden amnesia resulting in pain relief: the relationship between memory and pain. Choi 2007 Pain.
- Photobiomodulation therapy is not better than placebo in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Guimarães 2021 Pain.