Can Myofascial Release Decrease Pain?

Short-term effects of self-massage combined with home exercise on pain, daily activity, and autonomic function in patients with myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome.

by Chan, Wang, Chang, Chen, Chu, Lin, and Chang, in Journal of Physical Therapy Science (2015).

Study Objective
To explore retrospectively the effects of a 2-week program of self-massage and home exercise for patients with myofascial pain syndrome.

What did the researchers do?
The 63 patients had been previously diagnosed as having myofascial pain syndrome for 6 – 18 months. The intervention group received a self-massage and home exercise program, 3 sessions per week over a 2-week period. The self-massage involved rolling a baseball on the specific neck and upper back muscles that had trigger points. The home exercise program involved stretching of the neck and upper back muscles.

What happened?
Pain and pressure pain threshold
The researchers found that only the self-massage group reduced pain significantly.

Disability and function
The researchers found that only the intervention group significantly improved the neck disability index.

What did the researchers conclude?
The researchers concluded that self-massage and home exercise is more effective than solely using other conventional physical modalities for pain and pressure pain threshold.