Shi's Daoyin Therapy for Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Huihao Wang,Zhen Deng,Hongsheng Zhan,Zhibi Shen,Kuan Wang,Wenxin Niu,Enyu Jiang

doi:10.1155/2018/4983891

Abstract

Objective To compare the immediate and short term effectiveness of Shi's Daoyin therapy (DT) rather than the Melbourne Protocol (MP) in terms of pain, mobility, and isometric strength of cervical muscles in nonacute nonspecific neck pain patients. Material and Methods A total of 114 nonacute nonspecific neck pain patients aged 20~50 years were recruited and randomly assigned to be treated by either Shi's DT or the MP. 56 cases and 54 cases received treatment for 3 weeks and were evaluated before and after intervention and at 3-week follow-up in Shi's DT group and MP group, respectively. The outcome measures were Chinese version of the Neck Disability Index (NDI), cervical range of motion (ROM), maximal voluntary isometric force (MVIF), and pain intensity (Numeric Pain Rating Scale, NPRS). Results All outcomes of both groups showed statistically significant improvements after the intervention and at 3-week follow-up (P < 0.05), while no statistically significant difference was found in NDI between groups. When followed up after 3 weeks, the ROM in axial rotation was significantly greater in the Shi's DT group (P < 0.05), and the NPRS in the Shi's DT group was significantly lower than the MP group (P < 0.05). At the end of the treatment period, the MVIF in lateral bending in the Shi's DT group had a lower value (P = 0.044) than in the MP group, but there was no significant difference in flexion and extension between the two groups. Conclusions Both Shi's DT and MP groups demonstrated an obvious reduction in pain intensity and improvements in neck mobility after a short term follow-up period. The improvement of Shi's DT in disability and pain during functional activities is generally similar to that of the MP for the treatment of nonacute nonspecific neck pain.

Highlights

The incidence of nonspecific neck pain and its associated disorders has been measurably increasing in recent years, and nonspecific neck pain had been recognized as one of the main sources of disabilities in the general population [1]
A total of 114 patients were eligible for this study and were randomly allocated to either Shi’s Daoyin therapy (DT) group or Melbourne Protocol (MP) group
When followed up after 3 weeks, the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) in the Shi’s DT group showed a significantly lower value than the MP group (P < 0.05). For both groups there was a significant improvement in NPRS from before treatment to 3-week follow-up (P < 0.05) (Figure 4)

Summary

Introduction

The incidence of nonspecific neck pain and its associated disorders has been measurably increasing in recent years, and nonspecific neck pain had been recognized as one of the main sources of disabilities in the general population [1]. The Multi-Cervical Unit (MCU, BTE Technologies, Inc., Hanover, MD) is a medical device designed for neck exercises based on the Melbourne Protocol (MP) [6]. This device showed effects in alleviating cervical dysfunction and enhancing muscle strength [7]. It could be used to quantitatively measure neck muscle strength and cervical range of motion (ROM) [8,9,10] Such supervised rehabilitative exercise often comes at a significant expense and cannot compete with the convenience of exercise at home [11]. These devices are difficult to popularize among nonacute nonspecific neck pain patients, especially in developing countries

Methods

Results

Conclusion