Capacitive and Resistive Electric Transfer Therapy: A Comparison of Operating Methods in Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain.

Capacitive and resistive electric transfer (TECAR) modes of therapy use radiant energy to generate endogenous heat and are used for musculoskeletal disorders for their analgesic, decontracting, and elasticizing properties. While the capacitive mode is supposed to interact with soft tissues, the resistive mode interacts more with hard tissues. This study aims to investigate whether the successive order of the two modes during their application could make a difference concerning the outcome. The study included 40 patients affected by chronic non-specific low back pain. Patients were assessed using algometry, before and immediately after the therapeutic intervention, and thermal imaging, before, immediately after, and then 30 and 60 min after the intervention. Each patient had two TECAR interventions on different days of a total of 20 min each, with a resistive followed by capacitive mode and conversely, capacitive followed by resistive mode. The capacitive mode alternated with the resistive mode by 10 min during either intervention. Results showed that the effects consisting of temporary increases in the superficial temperature of the lower back and pressure pain threshold were alike for both interventions. We conclude that TECAR therapy reduces low back pain regardless of the operative mode adopted, with only an insignificant advantage when starting the sequence from the resistive application.

Quantum Medicine: A Role of Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields in the Management of Chronic Pain.

Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-MF) therapy is a promising treatment for chronic pain, given its ability to interact with body homeostasis using water-mediated transmission mechanisms typical of quantum medicine. The present study aims to assess the effects of ELF-MF therapy on chronic pain in 49 patients suffering from various musculoskeletal disorders. The therapy was applied through a Quec Phisis setup generating the electromagnetic field as the ion cyclotronic resonance. Patients underwent eight therapy sessions of 45 min each performed every other day. The bioimpedance assessment was based on the comparison of the height-adjusted body resistance (R/h) and reactance (Xc/h) measured during the first and last sessions of eight-session treatment. Pain perception was quantified using the standard visual-analog scale. We found significant increases in both R/h and Xc/h parameters of body bioimpedance after electromagnetic therapy corresponding with reductions in pain perception. We conclude that the ELF-MF therapy can restore the body's state of health and thus seems a valid therapeutic approach for the treatment of musculoskeletal-derived pain.

Posture and Health: Are the Biomechanical Postural Evaluation and the Postural Evaluation Questionnaire Comparable to and Predictive of the Digitized Biometrics Examination?

BACKGROUND: Postural tone alterations are expressions of myofascial and, therefore, of structural, visceral, and emotional disorders. To prevent these disorders, this study proposes a quantitative investigation method which administers a postural evaluation questionnaire and a postural biomechanical evaluation to 100 healthy subjects. METHODS: The reliability of the method is studied by comparing both assessments with digitized biometrics. In addition, 50 subjects undergo the biomechanical evaluation form twice, by four different operators, to study the intraoperative repeatability. RESULTS: The results show a satisfactory overlap between the results obtained with the postural evaluation questionnaire and the postural biomechanical evaluation compared to computerized biometrics. Furthermore, intraoperative repeatability in the use of the biomechanical evaluation form is demonstrated thanks to a minimal margin of error. CONCLUSIONS: This experience suggests the importance of undertaking this path in both the curative and the preventive sphere on a large scale and on different types of people who easily, and even unknowingly, may face dysfunctional syndromes, not only structural and myofascial but also consequently of the entire body's homeostasis.

Manual Pressure Release and Low-Grade Electrical Peripheral Receptor Stimulation in Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Chronic nonspecific low back pain is a frequent clinical condition affecting the general population and influencing disability level and quality of life. We performed a single-blinded, randomized, and controlled study to compare the effectiveness of manual pressure release (MPR) and electrical neuromodulation (ENM) treatments in the management of chronic low back pain. There were 20 patients with chronic low back pain randomly assigned to 6 treatment sessions with either technique. Both groups were treated for 2 days a week for 3 weeks. Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) were identified and skin conductance, pressure-pain threshold, postural changes, and the Oswestry Disability Index were assessed before and after each treatment session, along with the protocol-end data compared against the baseline data in each group. We found an outstanding and about equal deactivation of MTrPs from pre- to post-treatment in both groups, reducing disability in patients with chronic low back pain. The study highlights the ENM as a reliable tool for the evaluation of MTrPs, given a high agreement with the MPR. The effect on the neuromuscular condition of treating the "key trigger points" found in this study advances the knowledge of medical rehabilitation.

Integrated Rehabilitation Approach with Manual and Mechanic-Acoustic Vibration Therapies for Urinary Incontinence.

This study aims to verify whether an integrated rehabilitation protocol comprising neuromuscular manual therapy and focused mechanical-acoustic vibrations can significantly reduce pelvic floor dysfunctions in women affected by stress, urge, or mixed urinary incontinence. Sixty-two women were treated with a combination of neuromuscular manual therapy and mechanical-acoustic vibrations at the level of superficial pelvic floor muscle groups. The results were analyzed before the beginning and after the end of the study protocol with the myometric measuring device MyotonPRO, the Pelvic Floor Disability Index (PFDI-20), and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7). Two patients withdrew from the study after the first visit. The 60 remaining patients showed significant improvements of myometric parameters, with the percentage variations ranging from +8.5% to +20.7% for the muscle logarithmic decrement, from -11.2 to -13.9% for muscle frequency, and from -4.8% to -12.3% for muscle stiffness. There has been a reduction of 56% in the perceived disability induced by urinary incontinence, measured with the PFDI-20, and 43% reduction in the impact of the problem on daily living, measured with the PFIQ-7. We conclude that a combination of neuromuscular manual therapy and mechanical-acoustic vibrations effectively reduces pelvic symptoms in patients affected by urinary incontinence, with minimal invasiveness.

Effect of combined treatment with focused mechano-acoustic vibration and pharmacological therapy on bone mineral density and muscle strength in post-menopausal women.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis is a systemic disease of the skeleton characterized by a reduction in bone mass and alterations in microarchitecture accompanied by increase in fracture risk, with a relevant decline in quality of life and important social, economic, and health implications, representing one of the most common causes of disability and a major financial item of health cost in many Countries. The best therapy for osteoporosis is prevention, consisting in measures to avoid or slow the onset of the disease. Treatment includes measures aimed at osteoporotic individuals, with or without previous fractures and a high risk of a first or additional fracture. METHOD: We enrolled thirty post-menopausal osteoporotic women, allocated in the first group underwent a 6-month personalized drug therapy and focused mechanoacoustic vibration (2 sessions per week, each lasting 15 minutes); women allocated in the second group underwent only 6-month personalized drug therapy. Patients were evaluated performing dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and isokinetic machine evaluation, and administration of Tinetti scale and ECOS-16 questionnaire. RESULT: Show improvement of bone mineral density (BMD) and T-score at the lumbar spine and femoral neck, handgrip strength and isokinetic strength of the knee estensors, balance and gait, and quality of life. CONCLUSION: Hence, the combined treatment with focused mechano-acoustic vibration and pharmacological therapy has a beneficial effect on BMD and T-score as well as on the muscle strength and quality of life of osteoporotic subjects.

Rehabilitation program based on sensorimotor recovery improves the static and dynamic balance and modifies the basal ganglia neurochemistry: A pilot 1H-MRS study on Parkinson's disease patients.

Rehabilitation interventions represent an alternative strategy to pharmacological treatment in order to slow or reverse some functional aspects of disability in Parkinson's disease (PD). To date, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying rehabilitation-mediated improvement in PD patients are still poorly understood. Interestingly, growing evidence has highlighted a key role of the glutamate in neurogenesis and brain plasticity. The brain levels of glutamate, and of its precursor glutamine, can be detected in vivo and noninvasively as "Glx" by means of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS). In the present pilot study, 7 PD patients with frequent falls and axial dystonia underwent 8-week rehabilitative protocol focused on sensorimotor improvement. Clinical evaluation and Glx quantification were performed before and after rehabilitation. The Glx assessment was focused on the basal ganglia in agreement with their key role in the motor functions. We found that the rehabilitation program improves the static and dynamic balance in PD patients, promoting a better global motor performance. Moreover, we observed that the levels of Glx within the left basal ganglia were higher after rehabilitation as compared with baseline. Thus, we posit that our sensorimotor rehabilitative protocol could stimulate the glutamate metabolism in basal ganglia and, in turn, neuroplasticity processes. We also hypothesize that these mechanisms could prepare the ground to restore the functional interaction among brain areas deputed to motor controls, which are affected in PD.