Effects of Gua Sha and Thermotherapy on Chronic Neck Pain

February 22, 2011 updated by: Universität Duisburg-Essen

Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Gua Sha Massage and Thermotherapy for Chronic Neck Pain: Effects on Pain Intensity, Haptic Perception and Body Image.

Gua Sha massage is a traditional chinese medical treatment. It is mostly used in the treatment of the common cold and pain syndromes. Gua Sha involves pressuring the skin by a round-edged instrument until small petechiae appear. This so called "sha", considered as the removal of blood stasis by traditional practitioners, will fade within a few days. Normally, this treatment is not considered as painful, but as relaxing and easing tense muscles.

In this study, the investigators will investigate the effectivity of Gua Sha massage in treating chronic neck pain. The investigators will research effects on subjective pain intensity, neck pain specific disability and haptic perception.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
    • Northrhine-Westphalia
      • Essen, Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany, 45276
        • Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Knappschafts-Krankenhaus, Department for Internal and Integrative Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Chronic mechanical neck pain, at least 40 mm on a 100mm visual analog scale.
  • Pain for at least 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • radicular symptoms
  • congenital spine deformity
  • pregnancy
  • rheumatic diseases
  • oncologic diseases
  • other severe psychiatric or somatic comorbidity
  • recent invasive or surgical treatment of the spine
  • participation in other studies
  • skin diseases in the area to be treated

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Gua Sha
Single Gua Sha treatment of the neck and shoulder region.
Other: Gua Sha
Single Gua Sha treatment of the neck and shoulder region
Active Comparator: Thermotherapy
Single use of a mud heat pad on the neck and shoulder region.
Device: Thermotherapy
Single use of a mud heat pad on the neck and shoulder region

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Neck pain intensity (100mm visual analog scale)
Time Frame: Day 4
Day 4

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neck disability index (NDI)
Time Frame: Day 4

The Neck Disability Index is an instrument to assess neck pain complaints.

Reference: Vernon H, Mior S. The Neck Disability Index: a study of reliability and validity. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1991;14:409-415.
Day 4
Haptic perception
Time Frame: Day 4

The design consists of two angle legs, of which one angle leg has to be readjusted to a given angle adjustment. This is done by haptic perception without visual feedback. The deviation of the adjusted angle from the locked angle is measured.

Reference: Grunwald, M., Ettich, C., Busse, F., Assmann, B., Dähne, A., Gertz, H.-J., (2002): Angle paradigm: A new method to measure right parietal dysfunctions in anorexia nervosa. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology , 17, pp. 485- 496
Day 4

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 2, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 2, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

November 3, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 23, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 22, 2011

Last Verified

February 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 10-4434

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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