A Study to Compare Manual Pressure Release Technique with Ultrasound Therapy in the Treatment of Patients with Upper Trapezius Myofascial Pain

Background of the study: Myofascial trigger point (MTrP) can be defined as a hyperirritable spot in skeletal muscle that is associated with a hypersensitive palpable nodule in a taut band. MTrP is associated with pain on compression and the pain is typically of a referred type. There are various treatment modalities used for treating myofascial pain which includes individual treatment techniques like Manual pressure release, Acupuncture, Ultrasound therapy, Low level laser therapy, dry needling etc. Among these conservative techniques, Manual pressure release and Ultrasound therapy are said to be very effective. However no study has compared these 2 conservative therapies in the treatment of patients with Myofascial pain. Hence the purpose of this study is to compare the short term effects of Manual pressure release technique with Utrasound therapy in patients with Myofascial pain syndrome. Methodology: 30 subjects with Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) of upper trapezius muscles were selected for the study and randomized into two groups Group A and Group B. Group A subjects received Manual pressure release technique twice a day for 30 minutes, 3 days a week for 4 weeks and Group B were treated with therapeutic ultrasound therapy for 3 days a week a period of 4wks. Outcome Measures: Pre and Post test values of all the subjects were evaluated using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for measuring pain and Inch tape. Results: The results have revealed that there is extreme significance noted in Group A (p<0.0001) when compared to group B .Significant difference was also noted in both outcome scales VAS and Inch tape measurements. Conclusion: The results of this study have shown significant reduction of pain and improvement in cervical lateral flexion range of motion in patients treated with Manual pressure release technique(Group A) when compared to (Group B) that is Ultrasound therapy.