Spray Stretch Technique Versus Progressive Pressure Release on Treatment of Myofascial Pain Trigger Point: Randomized Controlled Trial
Two pages on PainSci cite Amin 2017: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. Taking out the trash: purging predatory journals from my bibliography
PainSci commentary on Amin 2017: ?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 is a poorly written (ESL?) paper about a test of spray and stretch versus progressive pressure for trapezius trigger points. There was no control group and the results were mixed and minor, with each treatment appearing superior to the other by one measure (sensitivity) and inferior by the other (activity pain). The authors betray a major bias with this egregious overstatement of the state of the evidence: “spray and stretch technique and progressive pressure release have been proved separately to be effective in treating myofascial trigger points in previous studies” (“proved” is a huge exaggeration).
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.
BACKGROUND: Myofascial trigger points are extremely common and become a distressing part of nearly everyone’s life at one time and another. The pain of myofascial trigger points can devastate the quality of life.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty participants with acute myofascial trigger points of upper fibre of trapezius were assigned randomly to one of the two study groups: Group (A) 14 participants received spray and stretch technique. Group (B) 16 participants received progressive pressure release technique. Pressure algometer and neck disability index were measured pre and post the intervention period.
RESULTS: Unpaired t-test assesses pain threshold and individuals daily activities pain between the two groups for post intervention values. There was significant difference between Group A and Group B in the post values of pain threshold and individuals daily activities pain. There was a significant increase in pain threshold in group (B) than Group A, and there was significant decrease in individual’s activities pain in group A than group B.
CONCLUSION: Our results show that spray and stretch technique applied after progressive pressure release technique decreases pain should be follow by an increase in the functional activities.
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:
- Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans. Madden 2017 Pain Med.
- Topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and eccentric exercises in the treatment of mid-portion achilles tendinopathy (the NEAT trial): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Kirwan 2024 Br J Sports Med.
- Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of three-armed trials. Hohenschurz-Schmidt 2024 Eur J Pain.
- Recovery trajectories in common musculoskeletal complaints by diagnosis contra prognostic phenotypes. Aasdahl 2021 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.