Cervical Vertebrae ; Humans ; Neck/diagnostic imaging* ; Neck Pain/etiology*

OBJECTIVETo compare the temperature distribution of both sides of shoulder, provide objective reference for the application thermoview in the diagnosis of cervicodynia in teenagers.

METHODSForty-five adolescents with cervicodynias from March 2009 to December 2009 were collected. There were 23 males and 22 females, with an average age of 21 years (ranged from 19 to 22 years). The course of disease ranged from 2 to 20 weeks (averaged 13 weeks). C7 horizontal line were used to divide the back into the neck area and shoulders area, and the midline to subdivide the chosen area into left and right area. Thermal infrared imaging was used to observe the temperature both sides of neck and shoulders, the data was analyzed by the computer.

RESULTSThe temperature of shoulder was higher than neck. There were significant differences in the highest and average temperature both of the left and right side of neck and shoulder (P < 0.05), but no difference in the lowest temperature both of left and right side of neck.

CONCLUSIONThe thermal infrared imaging is important for diagnosing cervical imbalance syndrome, finding the sign of abnormal muscle metabolism of shoulder and providing the basis for prevention.

Adult ; Body Temperature ; Female ; Humans ; Infrared Rays ; Male ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; diagnosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Shoulder ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Cervical Vertebrae/*injuries ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck Pain/*etiology ; Spinal Fractures/*diagnosis ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing/*complications

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy among acupuncture based on "jin" theory, regular acupuncture and western medication.

METHODSA total of 95 cases, by using incomplete randomization method, were divided into a "jin" theory acupuncture group (32 cases), a regular acupuncture group (31 cases) and a medication group (32 cases). Patients in the "jin" theory acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture based on "jin" theory which included the "gather" and "knot" points on the affected side: positive reacted points, Fengchi (GB 20), Tianrong (SI 17), Tianyou (TE16) and Yiming (EX-HN14) as the main acupoints, while the Ermen (TE 21), Tinggong (SI 19) and Tinghui (GB 2) and zhigou (TE 6) as the auxiliary acpoints; the treatment was given once a day. Patients in the regular acupuncture group were treated with regular acupuncture at Tinggong (SI 19), Tin- ghui (GB 2) and Ermen (TE 21) and other matched acupoints based on syndrome differentiation, once a day. Pa- tients in the medication group were treated with oral administration of betahistine mesylate, three times a day. Ten days of treatment were taken as one session in three groups, and totally 2 sessions were given. Visual analogue scale (VAS), tinnitus handicap inventory (THD), and tinnitus severity assessment scale (TSIS) were evaluated before and after treatment; also the clinical efficacy was compared among three groups.

RESULTSThere are 5 drop-out cases du- ring the study. After the treatment, the VAS, THI and TSIS were improved in three groups (all P < 0.05); the VAS, THI and TSIS in the "jin" theory acupuncture group were lower than those in the regular acupuncture group and medication group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The total effective rate was 90.0% (27/30), 80.0% (24/30) and 63.3% (19/30), which was higher in the "jin" theory acupuncture group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe acupuncture based on "jin" theory is superior to regular acupuncture and western medication for cervical tinnitus.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck Pain ; complications ; Tinnitus ; etiology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Deep neck infections (DNI) have a propensity to spread rapidly along the interconnected deep neck spaces and compromise the airway, cervical vessels and spinal canal. The value of imaging lies in delineating the anatomical extent of the disease process, identifying the source of infection and detecting complications. Its role in the identification and drainage of abscesses is well known. This paper pictorially illustrates infections of important deep neck spaces. The merits and drawbacks of imaging modalities used for assessment of DNI, the relevant anatomy and the possible sources of infection of each deep neck space are discussed. Certain imaging features that alter the management of DNI have been highlighted.
Abscess ; complications ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drainage ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Soft Tissue Infections ; complications ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Pain in the cervical region of air force pilots, who are exposed to high G-forces, is a specifically occupational health problem. To minimize neck problems, the cervical muscles need specific strength exercise. It is important that the training for the neck must be carried out with optimal resistance in exercises. The model NSE-1 neck training machine for pilots was designed for neck strengthening exercises under safe and effective conditions. In order to realize the functions of changeable velocity and resistant (CVR) training and neck isometric contractive exercises, the techniques of adaptive hydraulics, sensor, optic and auditory biological feedback, and signal processing were applied to this machine. The training system mainly consists of mechanical parts (including the chair of flexion and extension, the chair of right and left lateral flexion, the components of hydraulics and torque transformer, etc.), and the software of signal processing and biological feedback. Eleven volunteers were selected for the experiments of neck isometric contractive exercises, three times a week for 6 weeks, where CVR training (flexion, extension, right, left lateral flexion) one time a week. The increase in relative strength of the neck (flexion, extension, left and right lateral flexion) was 70.8%, 83.7%, 78.6% and 75.2%, respectively after training. Results show that the strength of the neck can be increased safely, effectively and rapidly with NSE-1 neck training machine to perform neck training.
Aerospace Medicine ; Aircraft ; Equipment Design ; Exercise ; physiology ; Humans ; Military Personnel ; Neck Muscles ; injuries ; physiology ; Neck Pain ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Physical Education and Training ; Posture

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical symptoms and X-ray imaging features of cervical instability in young adult represented by postgraduates with a master's degree in medicine. METHODS: Totally 91 postgraduates with a master's degree in medicine were investigated from September to December 2021, including 45 males and 46 females;aged from 22 to 30 years old with an average of (25.30±2.18) years old. The cervical spondylosis-related discomfort symptoms of the subjects were collected and examined by the examiner for neck and shoulder tenderness point examination and cervical vertebra positive and lateral and functional X-ray radiography. According to the results of X-ray examination, the subjects were divided into stable cervical group and unstable cervical group. RESULTS: Among 91 subjects, there were 50 patients with cervical instability, accounting for 54.90% of total number of subjects. The cervical curvature was abnormal in 78 patients, accounting for 85.70% of total number of subjects. Among 50 patients with cervical instability, 50 patients were diagnosed as cervical instability on the basis of angular displaxement(AD)≥ 11 °, including 13 cases of C_3,4 instability, 30 cases of C_4,5 instability and 7 cases of C_5,6 instability;and 5 cases were diagnosed as cervical instability based on horizontal displacement(HD)≥ 3.5 mm, including 1 case of C_3,4 instability and 4 cases of C_4,5 instability. Compared with stable cervical group, the number of discomfort symptoms of neck pain, headache and shoulder pain in instability group was significantly higher than that of in stable cervical group(P<0.05);and the number of tenderness in spinous process space of C_4,5 and C_5,6, 2 cm adjacent to the spinous process of C₂-C₅ and the superior angle of the scapula (the stop point of levator scapulae) in the instability group was significantly higher than that in the stable cervical group (P<0.05);and the cervical curvature in the instability group was significantly lower than that in stable cervical group(P<0.05). CONCLUSION The incidence of cervical instability in young adult represented by postgraduates with a master's degree in medicine is high, they are mainly diagnosed as cervical instability on the basis of vertebral angular displacement ≥ 11°, and the instability segments are concentrated on C_3,4, C_4,5 and C_5,6 segments, the occurrence of cervical instability is often accompanied by abnormalities of cervical curvature. Most of clinical manifestations are head, neck and shoulder pain, especially neck pain in unstable segment.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Neck Pain/etiology* ; Shoulder Pain ; Spinal Diseases ; Radiography ; Spondylosis/diagnostic imaging* ; Joint Instability/diagnostic imaging* ; Cervical Vertebrae/diagnostic imaging*

There is a close functional relationship between the jaw and neck regions and it has been suggested that trigeminal sensory impairment can follow whiplash injury. Inclusion of manageable routines for valid assessment of the facial sensory capacity is thus needed for comprehensive evaluations of patients exposed to such trauma. The present study investigated facial thermal thresholds in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders (WADs) with both a qualitative method and quantitative sensory testing (QST). Ten women with pain and dysfunction following a whiplash injury were compared to 10 healthy age-matched women. Thermal detection thresholds were assessed by qualitative chair-side testing and by QST according to the method-of-limits. Seven test sites in the facial skin (overlying each trigeminal branch bilaterally, and the midpoint of the chin) were examined. The detection warm and cold thresholds were defined as the mean values of 10 individual thresholds. For the WAD patients, the qualitative assessment demonstrated both reduced and increased sensitivity compared to the healthy, whereas QST systematically showed significantly higher detection thresholds (i.e., decreased sensitivity) for both cold and warm stimuli. For the individuals who were assessed as having increased sensitivity in the qualitative assessment, the QST displayed either normal or higher thresholds, i.e., decreased sensitivity. The results suggest that QST is more sensitive for detecting thermal sensory disturbances in the face than a qualitative method. The impaired thermal sensitivity among the patients corroborates the notion of altered thermal detection capacity induced by WAD-related pain.
Case-Control Studies ; Chronic Disease ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Facial Pain ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Neck Pain ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Sensory Thresholds ; Skin ; physiopathology ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Thermosensing ; Trigeminal Nerve Injuries ; complications ; physiopathology ; Whiplash Injuries ; complications ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo explore the main factors influencing the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis, so as to provide references for further increasing the therapeutic effect of acupuncture.

METHODSOne hundred and six cases were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 53 cases in each group. The observation group was treated with routine acupuncture at Dazhui (GV 14), Jingbailao (Ex-HN 15) and Jianzhongshu (SI 15); and the control group was treated with sham acupuncture at 1 cm lateral to Bailao (Ex-HN 15) and Jianzhongshu (SI 15). The needles were retained for 20 min in the two groups and infrared radiation was used for adjuvant treatment in this period. Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) was used to assess the patients' quality of life before and after the treatment. The potential influential factors were analyzed by Logistic regression.

RESULTSThe effective rate was 75.5% in the observation group and 52.8% in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The Logistic regression analysis indicated that the therapeutic effect in the observation group was superior to the control group (OR = 2.670), and both the attack frequency and duration of the neck pain will influence the therapeutic effect (OR = 1.055 and OR = 2.446).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture has a better therapeutic effect on neck pain caused by cervical spondylosis, and patient's clinical history about attack frequency and duration of neck pain are factors influencing clinical therapeutic effect.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; statistics & numerical data ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck Pain ; etiology ; therapy ; Spondylosis ; complications ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical efficacy of warming-needle moxibustion on cervical headache.

METHODSSixty-one patients of cervical headache were randomly divided into a warming-needle moxibustion group (30 cases) and an acupuncture group (31 cases). Tianzhu (BL 10), Fengchi (GB 20), Wangu (GB 12), Tianyou (TE 16), Hegu (LI 4), Taichong (LR 3) and Zulinqi (GB 41) were selected in the two groups. Patients in the acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture; patients in the warming-needle moxibustion group were treated with warming-needle moxibustion at Tianzhu (BL 10), Fengchi (GB 20) and Wangu (GB 12) and acupuncture at the remaining acupoints. The treatment was given once every other day, 3 times a week, and totally 4-week treatment was given. The duration and frequency of headache, numerical rating scale (NRS) of headache and cervical range of motion (ROM) were compared before and after treatment in the two groups; also the efficacy of the two groups was evaluated.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the duration and frequency of headache, headache NRS.and cervical ROM score were improved in both groups (all P < 0.05), which were more significant in the warming-needle moxibustion group (all P < 0.05). The total effective rate was 84.3% (25/30) in the warming-needle moxibustion group, which was significantly superior to 61.3% (19/31) in the acupuncture group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe warming-needle moxibustion presents significant efficacy on cervical headache, which can obviously improve headache symptoms and cervical ROM.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Cervical Vertebrae ; physiopathology ; Female ; Headache ; etiology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Neck Pain ; complications ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult