Effect of tens on pain threshold: comparison of brief intense mode tens with DNIC

Abstract

back pain. The study was approved by the Ethics Screening Committee of Tokyo Metropolitan University. We developed two training method. The first was drawin exercise wherein we instructed participants to lower their underwears and draw-in their abdomen using pressure biofeedback beforeMR imaging (draw-in exercise). The second exercise involved participants to maintain the supine position; we then put the LRT band through the big fingers and the first toes and instructed them to extend the LRT band as much as possible (LRT band exercise). Each exercise was to be performed on alternate days. Before exercise, we obtained MRI. The system used was Achieva 3.0 T MRI (Philips Medical Systems, Best, Netherlands). The imaging technique was T2 star (TR= 500ms, TE= 0.703ms, FOV= 480mm). After we scanned, participants did each exercise in MRI. For a duration of 5min, each exercise was performed at an interval of 10 s; MRI was conducted immediately after exercise. The OsiriX imaging software was used for analysis, and we circled region of interest (ROI) transverse abdominalmuscles for each exercise; the mean values in ROI were regarded as MR signal intensities. We compared the results using the t-test after the analysis of variance. The analyses were carried using IBM SPSS ver. 14 with values for p< 0.05 was set as the significance level. Results: In Draw-in exercise, the mean MR signal intensities for transverse abdominal muscles before training was Right side 578.3 (SD 144.6), left side 656.3 (SD 18.6) and the corresponding value after training was Right side 572.7 (SD 125.6), left side 641.8 (SD 142.1). In LRT Band exercise, the mean MR signal intensities for transverse abdominal muscles before training was Right side 582.8 (SD 129.6), left side 649.3 (SD 148.8) and the corresponding value after training was Right side 660.5 (SD 83.3), left side 738.37 (SD 89.4). The activation of transverse abdominal muscles significantly increased in LRT Band exercise Right side (p< 0.02), Left side (p< 0.03). Conclusion(s): The data we collected suggested that the compound motion of trunk and extremities using band is effective as a method to train transverse abdominal muscle. Implications: This result showed the effectiveness of this training method in conditioning the transverse abdominal muscle. The training was easy and safe, so it may be useful for elderly people.