Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Meridians ; Middle Aged ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; therapy

To review the literature of acupuncture at trigger point for myofascial pain syndrome from the main selected points (trigger point), the mechanism of Chinese medicine and modern research and its clinical application. The results show that acupuncture at trigger point has significant effect on the myofascial pain syndrome, which could be influenced by the type of needle, manipulation, insertion angle and depth of the needles. However, the involved studies at present are still far from enough and lack of systematic study with multivariate analysis, it is needed to be improved that some problems about the clinical diagnosis and basic research.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Humans ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Trigger Points ; physiopathology

Bibliometric and scientific knowledge graph methods were used to analyze the research status and hot spots of acupuncture-moxibustion in treatment of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and explore its development trend. The articles of both Chinese and English versions relevant to MPS treated by acupuncture-moxibustion were searched in CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, SinoMed and WOS from the database inception to March 20, 2023. Using Excel2016, CiteSpace6.2.R2 and VOSviewer1.6.18, the visual analysis was conducted by means of the cooperative network, keyword co-occurrence, keyword timeline, keyword emergence, etc. From Chinese databases and WOS database, 910 Chinese articles and 300 English articles were included, respectively. The annual publication volume showed an overall rising trend. Literature output of English articles was concentrated in Spain, China, and the United States, of which, there was less cross-regional cooperation. In the keyword analysis, regarding acupuncture-moxibustion therapy, Chinese articles focused on "acupuncture", "electroacupuncture" and "acupotomy"; while, "dry needling" and "injection" were dominated for English one. Clinical study was the current hot spot in Chinese databases, in comparison, the randomized controlled double-blind clinical trial was predominant in WOS. Both Chinese and English articles were limited in the report of mechanism research. The cooperation among research teams should be strengthened to conduct comparative research, dose-effect research and effect mechanism research with different methods of acupuncture-moxibustion involved so that the evidences can be provided for deeper exploration.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Pattern Recognition, Automated ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes/therapy* ; Electroacupuncture

OBJECTIVETo evaluate therapeutic effect of the needle-knife closed solution combined with minor adjusting of spine for treatment of neck-shoulder syndrome.

METHODSFrom April 2010 to August 2011,120 patients with neck-shoulder syndrome were treated with the needle-knife closed solution combined with minor adjusting of spine, and included 45 males and 75 females and aged from 40 to 68 years old. The disease course was from 3 days to 10 years. After the operation, all patients taken the medicine of activating blood circulation herbs. At the 3rd, 7th, 10th day after operation, spinal rotation massage was performed on these patients. After the healing of the needle points, traditional Chinese medicine herb fumigation was applied on the needle points, and the patients were directed to do the cervical spine exercise. Therapeutic effect of the patients was evaluated by the neck disability index (NDI).

RESULTSAll patients were followed up after 3 weeks' treatment. The pain of neck-shoulder was relieved, and the range of motion was improved,the NDI score lowered from 49.30 +/- 1.35 before treatment to 10.15 +/- 1.18 at 3 weeks after treatment (t = 2.116, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe needle-knife closed solution combined with minor adjusting of spine for the treatment of neck-shoulder syndrome can relieve the pain in the neck-shoulder and improved the motion of the neck. The key for the effect is accurate location before operation, sufficient adhesion solution during the operation and spinal minor adjusting after operation.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Manipulation, Spinal ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; therapy ; Neck Pain ; therapy ; Shoulder Pain ; therapy

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to identify the effect of a stretching exercise on myofascial pain syndrome patients that work in small and medium-sized industry. METHODS: Questionnaires surveys including general characteristics, work-related characteristics, and musculoskeletal symptoms on neck and shoulder area was administered to 393 subjects who worked in small and medium sized industries. Symptomatic workers were examined to identify whether they had myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). Of the 393 subjects, 108 MPS patients performed 6 weeks stretching exercise program. Intensity of pain was estimated with visual analogue scales (VAS). All patients were interviewed to estimate their compliance to stretching exercise program. RESULTS: Of the 393 workers, 119 workers were diagnosed with MPS of the neck and shoulder. Post-exercise VAS was significantly reduced compared to pre-exercise VAS (p<0.05). High compliance patients to stretching exercise were more effective to exercise therapy (OR 2.89, 95% CI 1.19~7.04), and overtime workers were less effective to exercise therapy (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.17~0.95). CONCLUSION: The Stretching exercise program was identified to be effective in MPS patients in small and medium-sized industries. It is recommended that workers with MPS in small and medium-sized industries practice a well-designed stretching exercise program, and avoid overtime work.
Compliance ; Exercise Therapy ; Humans ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; Neck ; Questionnaires ; Shoulder ; Trigger Points ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVE: Based on the establishment of a rat model of trigger point, this study was to intervene with warm acupuncture, and to evaluate the effect on pathological morphology and pain-induced inflammation of the rat model by microscopic pathology and microdialysis. METHODS: Sixty-four SD rats were randomly divided into group A (blank control), group B (model control) and group C (model and intervention control). Groups A and B were divided into 3 groups (A0, A1, A2 and B0, B1, B2), the group C was divided into 2 groups (C1 and C2). The MTrPs model was established in both groups B and C, warm acupuncture intervention were given to the C1 group for 7 days and the C2 group for 15 days. Rats were sacrificed in batches. MTrPs were locally sampled and stained with hematoxylin-eosin after the preparation. The pathological changes were observed under light microscopy. The iocal interleukin-1β and prostaglandin E2 were detected by microdialysis technique. RESULTS: Microscopically, the muscle fibers of the model were arranged disorderly, broken, twisted, local fibrosis, contracture thickening and so on; macrophage and other inflammatory cell invasion in local area and a large area of adhesion occurred on the contracture nodule, the pathological state of local muscle fibers was significantly improved after warm needle intervention, local microvascular formation and maturation, local muscle fiber repair. After successful modeling, the amount of interleukin-1β and prostaglandin E2 in group B0 was significantly higher than that in group A0 before warm needle intervention (<0.01). After warming intervention for 7 days, there was no significant difference in the amount of interleukin-1β and prostaglandin E2 between group C1 and group B1 (>0.05). Group C1 and B1 were significantly higher than group A1 (<0.01); warm needle intervention for 15 days, the amount of interleukin-1β and prostaglandin E2 in group C2 were lower than those in group B2 (<0.05), but those in group C2 and B2 were significantly higher than group A2 (<0.01), and the amount of interleukin-1β and prostaglandin E2 in group C2 was lower than group C1 (<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The modeling method of exercise combined hitting used in this study was proved to be effective by histopathology; warm acupuncture can improve the pathological and inflammatory state of local muscle fiber in myofascial pain trigger of rat, promote local microvascular formation and maturation, and help the trigger point local muscle fiber repair.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Inflammation Mediators ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Trigger Points

This study systematically reviewed the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for lumbar myofascial pain syndrome. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding acupuncture for lumbar myofascial pain syndrome were searched in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMbase, Scopus, China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, VIP database, and China biomedical literature service system (SinoMed) from database inception until August 1st, 2022. The Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool was used to assess the risk of bias in all included studies, and Review Manager 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis of the extracted data. As a result, 12 RCTs, involving 1 087 patients with lumbar myofascial pain syndrome, were ultimately included. The Meta-analysis results showed that the visual analog scale (VAS) score of pain in the observation group was lower than those in the oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication control [SMD=-1.67, 95%CI (-2.44, -0.90), Z=4.26, P<0.000 1] and other treatment control [low-frequency electrical stimulation, tuina, electromagnetic wave irradiation combined with piroxicam gel, SMD=-1.98, 95%CI (-2.48, -1.48), Z=7.74, P<0.000 01]. The pain rating index (PRI) score in the observation group was lower than those in the lidocaine injection control [MD=-2.17, 95%CI (-3.41, -0.93), Z=3.44, P=0.000 6] and other treatment control [low-frequency electrical stimulation, tuina, MD=-5.75, 95%CI (-9.97, -1.53), Z=2.67, P=0.008]. The present pain intensity (PPI) score in the observation group was lower than that in other treatment control [low-frequency electrical stimulation, tuina, MD=-1.04, 95%CI (-1.55, -0.53), Z=4.01, P<0.000 1]. In conclusion, compared with oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, low-frequency electrical stimulation, tuina, and electromagnetic wave irradiation combined with piroxicam gel, acupuncture is more effective in reducing pain in patients with lumbar myofascial pain syndrome; acupuncture also exhibites advantage over lidocaine injection in improving PRI score and showed better outcomes over tuina and low-frequency electrical stimulation in improving PRI and PPI scores.
Humans ; Piroxicam ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Pain ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes/therapy* ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/therapeutic use* ; Lidocaine

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical therapeutic effect of moxibustion on heat-sensitive acupoints on myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).

METHODSThree-centre, single blind, randomized controlled trial method was adopted. One hundred and seven cases were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 57), and a control group (n = 50). The observation group were treated by moxibustion on the heat-sensitive acupoints and the control group by acupuncture, cupping and TDP. The therapeutic effects were assessed according to changes of the score of the short-form of McGill pain questionnaire composing of pain rating index (PRI), visual analogue scale (VAS) and present pain intensity (PPI) before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe cured rate of 86.0% in the observation group was better than 24.0% in the control group. After treatment, the score of PRI, VAS, PPI indexes significantly improved in the observation group (P < 0.001), and were significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONMoxibustion on the heat-sensitive acupoints has a high therapeutic effect on MPS.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; therapy ; Pain Measurement

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Bloodletting ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; therapy ; Young Adult

Skeletal muscle is the largest organ in the human body. Any of these muscles may develop pain and dysfunction. In modern society, myofascial pain is a major cause of morbidity. It may present as regional musculoskeletal pain, as neck or back pain mimicking radiculopathy. It may also present as shoulder pain with concomitant capsulitis, and hip or knee pain with concomitant osteoarthritis. The condition is treatable. However, it is often under-diagnosed and hence undertreated. Traditional medical training and management of musculoskeletal pain have focused much attention on bones, joints and nerves. This review will focus on muscles, myofascial pain and dysfunction. During history taking and physical examination, precipitating and perpetuating factors, taut bands, trigger points, tender spots and sensitised spinal segments have to be accurately located and correctly identified for effective needling treatment. There is also a high recurrence rate unless appropriate exercises are prescribed, with active participation from the patient, to restore flexibility and balance to the muscles. With rehabilitation, many patients do not have to continue to suffer unnecessary pain that affects their daily activities and quality of life. Early diagnosis and management may also help reduce psychosocial complications and financial burden of chronic pain syndrome.
Humans ; Muscle, Skeletal ; physiopathology ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes ; epidemiology ; physiopathology ; rehabilitation ; therapy ; Physical Examination ; Relaxation Therapy ; Stress, Mechanical