Comparison of kinesio taping, trigger point injection, and neural therapy in the treatment of acute myofascial pain syndrome: A randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVES: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a regional painful soft-tissue disorder, characterized by trigger points (TrPs) and taut bands in the muscles. In this study, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of kinesio taping (KT), TrPs injection, and neural therapy (NT) on pain and disability in acute MPS. METHODS: 104 patients with MPS in the cervical region were allocated into three groups. Group 1 (n=35) were treated with KT, Group 2 (n=35) received local anesthetic (LA) (lidocaine of 0.5%) TrPs injection, and Group 3 (n=34) received NT with the same LA solution. Patients were assessed by means of pain, pressure pain threshold (PPT), and disability. Pain severity was measured by Visual Analog Scale. The neck pain disability scale was used for assessing disability. PPT was measured by using an algometer. Measurements were taken before and after treatment of 3rd and 7th days. RESULTS: There were improvements on pain and disability in all groups at the end of treatments at 3rd day and during follow-up period (p<0.001) and no differences were found between the groups. There was significant difference in PPT values in TrPs injection and NT groups in comparisons between all time periods, however, the change, depending on time in the KT group, was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that all these three treatment methods found to be effective on pain relief and disability in acute MPS. In terms of PPT, injection treatments seem to be superior than KT.

Evaluation of the physical and emotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain: A multicenter cross-sectional controlled study.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the physical and emotional effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Patients and methods: The cross-sectional controlled study was performed with 1,360 participants (332 males, 1,028 females; mean age: 42.3±12.5 years; range, 18 to 65 years) between September 2020 and February 2021. The participants were evaluated in three groups: the FMS group (n=465), the CLBP group (n=455), and the healthy control group (n=440). Physical activity, pain levels, and general health status before and during the pandemic were evaluated in all participants. Stress levels were analyzed with the perceived stress scale (PSS) in all groups, and disease activity was analyzed with the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) in patients with FMS. Results: Patients with FMS had worsened general health status and pain levels during the pandemic compared to the other groups (p<0.01). The FMS group showed significantly higher PSS scores than those in other groups (p<0.01). There was a weak-positive correlation between FIQ and PSS parameters in patients with FMS (p<0.05, r=0.385). Conclusion: The general health status, pain, and stress levels of the patients with FMS and CLBP tended to worsen during the pandemic. This high-stress level appeared to affect disease activity in patients with FMS.