Objectives
Recent studies have shown that electromagnetic stimulation therapy (EMT) reduces inflammation and relieve pain in the various pain conditions such as myofascial pain syndrome, neuropathy and arthritis. However, the efficacy of EMT has not been compared according to pain characteristics and applying areas. This study is aimed to investigate the effects of EMT depending on those two variables of pain conditions.
Subjects and Methods
Patients who were treated with EMT between September 1st, 2017 and February 28th, 2018 were enrolled for this study. Inclusion criteria were as follows; 1) chronic pain lasting for at least 1 month, 2) pain scoring 3 or more in numerical rating scale (NRS), and 3) not relieved pain despite prior physical modality. These subjects then were classified into 2 groups, nociceptive and neuropathic, according to scores marked on pain DETECT, a self-reporting questionnaire. The EMT using biphasic pulse (3 Tesla) of 3-5Hz was conducted for 20 minutes a session, and five sessions a week for 2 weeks. In each session, subjects received EMT at different sites; 1) on joint in case of joint pain, 2) on nerve root with diagnosed radiculopathy, and 3) on tender point in case of pain accompanied by focal tenderness. NRS was evaluated at baseline and after the therapy.
Results
Twenty subjects met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Baseline characteristics of the subjects are summarized in Table 1. In all 20 subjects, NRS pain score decreased from average of 5.7 to 3.7 after EMT (p<0.001). The variance of NRS before and after treatment was greater for neuropathic pain than for nociceptive pain (NRS variance 3.00 vs 0.77, p=0.002). Although not statistically significant, the variance of NRS showed greatest difference when EMT was applied on the tender point (Figure 1).
Conclusion
This pilot study suggests that EMT could relieve pains of various types, especially those with neuropathic characteristics. Moreover when applying EMT, the physician should try to find the tender points to alleviate pain effectively. |
