Chiropractic adjusting instrument versus Ischaemic compression in the treatment of infraspinatus trigger points

Abstract : The aim of this comparative study was to compare the effectiveness of a chiropractic adjusting instrument versus ischaemic compression in the treatment of shoulder and arm pain due to infraspinatus trigger points. The aim was to compare these findings in terms of the changes in the intensity and characteristic of the pain as well as changes in pain pressure threshold measurements. The study would then establish which treatment protocol was the most effective in treating shoulder and arm pain due to infraspinatus trigger points METHOD: Thirty male and female participants between the ages of 18 and 50 presenting with either unilateral or bilateral shoulder or arm pain was randomly and equally divided into 2 groups. Each participant met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Each group consisted of 15 participants each. Group 1 received trigger point therapy using a chiropractic adjusting instrument and group 2 received ischaemic compression to infraspinatus trigger points. PROCEDURE: If the participant met all of the criteria they were invited to participate in the research study. Participants were treated 2 times a week for a 3 week period with a seventh consultation for measurement only. During the 1st, 4th and 7th consultations, subjective and objective data was recorded. Subjective measurements included the McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Numerical Pain Rating scale and objective measurements were recorded using a pressure algometer. RESULTS: Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric testing that included the Shapiro-Wilk test to test for normality. For intra-group analysis the Friedman and Wilcoxon Signed Ranked test was performed in order to check statistically significant changes between two time periods. For inter-group analysis the Mann-Whitney tests was performed in order to check statistically significant changes between two groups. No treatment protocol proved to be superior. vii CONCLUSION: Statistical findings indicated that neither one of the two treatment protocols were superior to the other in treating shoulder and arm pain due to infraspinatus trigger points. Descriptive statistics indicated that group 2 proved slightly more effective. Intragroup and intergroup analysis indicated that neither group 1 nor group 2 proved to be superior to the other. It can therefore be concluded that both modalities will reduce shoulder and arm pain and that both treatment modalities proved to be effective.M.Tech. (Chiropractic