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.

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.