Effects of Personal Low-Frequency Stimulation Device on Myalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Yong-Soon Yoon, Myoung-Hwan Ko, Il-Young Cho, Cheol-Su Kim, Johny Bajgai, Hong-Young Jang, Ka-Eun Kim, Kyu-Jae Lee and Mihyun Lee
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Yong-Soon Yoon: Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Presbyterian (Jesus) Medical Center, 365, Seowon-ro, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si 54987, Korea
Myoung-Hwan Ko: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, 567, Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si 54896, Korea
Il-Young Cho: Department of Medical Sciences Convergence Research Center for Medical Sciences, Jeonju University, 303, Cheonjam-ro, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si 55069, Korea
Cheol-Su Kim: Department of Environmental Medical Biology, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju-si 26426, Korea
Johny Bajgai: Department of Environmental Medical Biology, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju-si 26426, Korea
Hong-Young Jang: Department of Physical Education, Sungkyul University, 53, Seonggyeoldaehak-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si 14097, Korea
Ka-Eun Kim: Department of Alternative Medicine, Graduate School of Health and Welfare, Jeonju University, 303, Cheonjam-ro, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si 55069, Korea
Kyu-Jae Lee: Department of Environmental Medical Biology, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Wonju-si 26426, Korea
Mihyun Lee: Department of Physical Education, Sungkyul University, 53, Seonggyeoldaehak-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si 14097, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-11

Abstract: Electrotherapy is commonly used for myalgia alleviation. Low-frequency stimulation (LFS) is primarily used for controlling acute and chronic pain and is a non-invasive therapy that can be easily performed with electric stimulation applied on the skin. However, little evidence exists regarding the pain alleviation effects of personal low-frequency stimulation device for home use. Moreover, no studies have compared myalgia alleviation effects between personal low-frequency stimulation (PLS) and physical therapy (PT), which are most commonly used for patients with myalgia in hospitals and clinics. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the pain alleviation effects of PLS in patients with myalgia and compare these effects with those of conventional PT (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation + ultrasound). In total, 39 patients with myalgia in the neck, shoulder, back, and waist areas were randomly assigned to the personal low-frequency stimulation group (PLSG: n = 20) and physical therapy group (PTG: n = 19). Both groups were treated for 3 weeks (20 min per session and 5 sessions per week). Patients were assessed for pain intensity by surface electromyography (sEMG), visual analogue scale (VAS) and a short-form McGill pain questionnaire (SF-MPQ) before and after the intervention period. Our results showed that PLSG showed a tendency of muscle relaxation with a significant decrease in sEMG in the neck ( p = 0.0425), shoulder ( p = 0.0425), and back ( p = 0.0046) areas compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference in waist area. Additionally, VAS scores significantly decreased between pre- and post-treatment in both PTG ( p = 0.0098), and PLSG ( p = 0.0304) groups, but there was no significance difference between the groups. With respect to SF-MPQ, the PLSG showed greater pain alleviation (5.23 ± 0.25) effects than the PTG (6.23 ± 0.25). Accordingly, our results suggest that PLS treatment using a home device might offer positive assistance in pain alleviation for patients with myalgia that is as equally effective as conventional PT treatment. However, further detailed studies are required considering larger samples to fully claim the effectiveness of this device.

Keywords: electrotherapy; myalgia; personal low-frequency stimulation; physical therapy; surface electromyography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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