The Clinical Study On The Neck And Shoulder Myofascial Syndrome Treated By The Fire Needle With Electro Acupuncture

The neck and shoulder myofascial syndrome is a common type of clinical, which often happen to office workers, students, and computer users. Many people stay still working for long periods of time, which may cause muscle stiffness and greatly increase the chance of getting myofascial syndrome. The main positions of the syndrome are on scapular, neck, back, and buttock, where patients usually feel tension, sourness, expansion, pain, and activity limitation. Although the disease is not fatal, it affects the victims' lives by poor sleep, low efficiency, depresses, and etc. Fire needle is an approved effective method of treating strain and pain syndromes. By using fire needle, the warmness goes through the skin and arouses the Qi of meridians so as to dispel the evil elements and regular the Zang. This is a trigger of self recover which also shows obvious affect on myofascial syndrome sufferer.Purpose:Investigating the treatment of the myofascial syndrome by fire needle combining with electro acupuncture. Compare the treatment group and control group by VAS and soft tissue assessment. By study the literature and clinical result, find out a safe and effective method to treat myofascial syndrome.Method:This clinical study started from March 2010 and ended at March 2011. We acquainted 60 cases in the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital Acupuncture Department. The cases were divided randomly into 2 groups:treatment group (using fire needle) and control group (without fire needle). The treatment group was treated by fire needle combining with electro acupuncture. The main points are:Tianzhu, Bailao, Dazhu, Jianjing, Jianzhongshu, Houxi, and Ashi. During the treatment,1 cun needle was used on neck and put in 0.2-0.4 cun, while 1.5 cun was used on shoulder and put in 0.5-0.7 cun. After the arrival of Qi, added 2 pairs of electoral stimulation on both right and left sides. Density wave was chosen and adjusted until the patient feel comfortable. The period of treatment would last 30 minutes. The main points of fire needle were Bailao, Jianjing, Ashi. When electro acupuncture was over, the patients were allowed to have a 5-minute break, then they lied on their chest and received fire needle. One course of treatment includes 3 times of electro acupuncture in a week,1 treatment every 2 days; and 2 times of fire needle in a week. Every patient would go through 2 courses. The control group received the same electro acupuncture treatment as the treatment group.Effect of both groups would be evaluated by VAS and soft tissue assessment before and after each course of treatment. The data was analyzed by SPSS17.0.Results:1. Before the treatment, the treatment group and the control group in gender, age, and period have no significant difference (P>0.05). This shows they are comparable.2. Before the treatment, the treatment group and the control group in VAS scores have no significant difference (P>0.05), which shows they are comparable. After one course of treatment, there are significant differences (P<0.01) of pain relief between the two groups and the treatment group is better. The data also shows electro acupuncture can improve the condition of the myofascial syndrome3. Before the treatment, there are no significant difference (P>0.05) of the level of soft tissue injury between the two groups, which shows they are comparable. After the treatment, the scores of pain and activity limitation have significant differences (P<0.01), but the scores of expansion, ecchymosis, dry mouth, constipation, and poor sleep have no significant difference (P>0.05).4. The efficient rate of treatment group is 93.32%, while the control's is 79.99%. The rate of treatment group is higher and there is significant differences (P<0.05). The results show that fire needle combining with electro acupuncture is better than electro acupuncture treatment.Conclusion:Clinical observations proved that fire needle can improve circulation and local metabolism. The warm feature of it can open up the meridian, arouse the Qi and regular Yin and Yang, in order to heal the disease. Electro acupuncture can also improve circulation, disperse edema and relieve pain. After combining the two methods, it effectively improve the myofascial syndrome. The results also show the close relationship between the disease and the life styles. The unknown reasons and some bad habits may cause the recurrence or worsen of the condition. So it is important for both doctors and patients to communicate and cooperate so as to prevent recurrence.