The Effect of Counterstrain Technique on Muscle Stiffness and Pain on Trapezius Tender Points in Medical Students

NCT ID: NCT05226611

Last Updated: 2022-02-07

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 27 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-03-10
• Study Completion Date: 2021-04-14

Brief Summary

Medical students are prone to developing neck pain due to prolonged studying and poor posture. This can manifest as tender points in the upper trapezius region. Counterstrain (CS) is an osteopathic manipulative technique that has shown efficacy in previous studies in treating tender points. The MyotonPRO is a myotonometric device that can be used to measure various muscle parameters such as muscle stiffness. There is limited research regarding the use of osteopathic manipulative medicine to produce measurable changes in muscle stiffness by the MyotonPRO. This educational study aims to establish the efficacy of CS technique in decreasing the pain level of upper trapezius tender points in medical students as well as determining if CS causes a significant decrease in muscle stiffness in treated tender points as measured by the MyotonPRO. The investigators hope this educational study will encourage further studies on how osteopathic manipulative techniques affects the physiologic parameters of muscles.

Conditions

Counterstrain; MyotonPRO; Tender Points

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Tender point treatment with Counterstrain

A tender point was located in the upper trapezius region of the test subject and treated with counterstrain. The side with the highest initial pain level was used as the treatment side. Pain level was measured before and after treatment. The MyotonPRO was also used to measure physiologic parameters of the muscle before and after treatment.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Counterstrain

Intervention Type: OTHER

Counterstrain is a hands-on OMM technique that involves shortening the muscle to resolve the dysfunctional muscle stretch reflex and holding it for 90 seconds. The patient is then brought back to a neutral position and reassessed.

Interventions

Counterstrain

Counterstrain is a hands-on OMM technique that involves shortening the muscle to resolve the dysfunctional muscle stretch reflex and holding it for 90 seconds. The patient is then brought back to a neutral position and reassessed.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Subject is at least 18 years of age

Exclusion Criteria

• Traumatized (sprained or strained) tissues, which would be negatively affected by the positioning of the patient
• Illness or other conditions in which strict positional restrictions preclude treatment
• Instability of the area being positioned that has the potential to produce unwanted neurologic or vascular side effects
• Vascular or neurologic syndromes, such as basilar insufficiency or neural foraminal compromise whereby the position of treatment has the potential to exacerbate the condition
• Severe degenerative spondylosis with local fusion and no motion at the level where treatment positioning would normally take place
• Pregnancy
• Positive for COVID-19 as well as symptoms indicating a SARS-CoV-2 infection

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

New York Institute of Technology

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine

Glen Head, New York, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

#BHS-1561

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id