Changes in static and dynamic force development after treatment of myofdascial trigger points using focused ESWT in case of sports-related shoulder pain

Müller-Ehrenberg H, Thorwesten L, Pottebaum M, Epping H, Gries L, Völker K

Abstract in digital collection (conference)

Abstract

Problem: Myofascial trigger points are a frequent cause of performance-limiting shoulder pain in athletes.The study was designed to determine what improvements can be achieved by an exact trigger point therapy in active athletes suffering from acute or chronic shoulder pain with regard to their pain condition and force development. Material and method: A randomized, controlled, prospective study with n = 60athletes suffering from shoulder pain (30 treated / 30 not treated, average age = 34.6 years), was carried out.The examinations were performed over a period of 6 weeks with four treatments (one treatment per week). As a therapy, piezoelectrically generated focused extracorporeal shock waves (fESWT) were applied to myofascial triggerpoints (MTrps) according to the principles of trigger point therapy using a Richard Wolf Piezoson 100 plus. The treatment was carried out exclusively in the low-energy range(max. 0.28 mJ/mm3). A sport-specific case history, a clinical examination as well as an evaluation of the pain symptoms were performed bymeans of a VAS score and the subjective rating by meansof the Simple Shoulder Score (SSS). The sensomotorics were tested by means of the angle reproduction test, the isokinetic and isometric rates of force development using a CYBEX Norm. Results: After direct trigger point treatment in 30 patients using fESWT, regarding the pain condition a significant reduction in pain was found. In correlation with all examinations and tests carried out, both in the SSS and in the angle reproduction test an improvement trend could be measured. Regarding isokinetic force development for ABD/ADD and IRO/ARO a significant increase could be revealed.Isokinectic measurements (60◦/sec.) also yielded a significantly higher maximum torque as well as a significantlyhigher total work for both ABD/ADD and IRO/ARO.In the control group no significant changes were found. Conclusion: The treatment of myofascial trigger points using fESWT sig-nificantly improves the pain symptoms as well as the performance of athletes suffering from acute or chronic shoulderpain.

Details zur Publikation

Book title: Book of Abstracts
Release year: 2007
ISBN: 978-951-790-242-7
Language in which the publication is written: English
Link to the full text: http://www.ecss.de/ASP/EDSS/C12/12-2188.pdf