J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2007 Feb;31(1):25-29.

Effects of Electrical Stimulation of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve and Acupuncture Stimulation in Patients with Myofascial Pain Syndrome

• Kim YJ
• Lee YH
• Kim IS
• Kim SH
• Auh KB
• Yu MG

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effective stimulating mode of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and acupuncture for pain relief. METHOD: The subjects were 40 patients with MPS. In 20 patients, TENS were applied to the trigger point. In other 20 patients, acupuncture mode electrical stimulation were applied to the acupuncture site by measuring skin impedance of affected muscle.
RESULTS
The visual Analogue Scale (VAS) decreased 20.48 (19.15%) in the group applied TENS mode and 30.08 (16.97%) in the group applied acupuncture mode after 1 week. The VAS decreased 33.19 (25.76%) in the groupapplied TENS mode and 46.48(17.76%) in the group applied acupuncture mode after 2 week (p<0.05). The pressure threshold was increased 16.07 (17.45%) in the group applied TENS mode and 26.09 (22.20%) in the group applied acupuncture mode after 1 week. The pressure threshold increased 24.88 (23.25%) in the group applied TENS mode and 41.11 (27.35%) in the group applied acupuncture mode after 2 week.
CONCLUSION
Acupuncture mode was more effective treatment modality in MPS for pain relief than TENS mode.

Keyword

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation; Acupuncture; Myofascial pain syndrome

MeSH Terms

Acupuncture*
Electric Impedance
Electric Stimulation*
Humans
Myofascial Pain Syndromes*
Skin
Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
Trigger Points