Effect of Chinese tuina massage therapy on resting state brain functional network of patients with chronic neck pain

Objective:Cervical disease,a type of chronic pain,can greatly impact quality of life.Traditional Chinese tuina,a form of therapeutic massage and manipulation,has been shown to be effective in relieving pain and other symptoms in patients with chronic neck pain.This study applied functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the features of the resting state network of patients with chronic neck pain caused by cervical radiculopathy,and how tuina affects the causality between intrinsic brain networks.Methods:Using Granger causality analysis,effective connectivity of brain networks of 10 patients with chronic neck pain was compared with 10 healthy control subjects.Resting state fMRI data were using magnetic resonance scanning.Cervical spondylosis symptom scores were evaluated before and after 4 weeks of tuina therapy.Independent component analysis was applied to extract the specific networks related to sensation,execution,and cognition,including sensorimotor network (SMN),visual network (VN),auditory network (AN),anterior and posterior default mode network (aDMN,pDMN),left frontoparietal network and right frontoparietal network.Results:Compared with the control group,data from the treatment group revealed two major findings:before tuina therapy,SMN had a profound influence on aDMN and AN greatly affected pDMN;however,after 4 weeks of tuina therapy,aDMN and SMN showed reversed causality.Conclusion:Chronic neck pain caused by cervical radiculopathy may influence the DMN,which plays an important role in emotion,cognition,and memory,by stimulating the sensory afferent network.Tuina not only significantly relieves pain and discomfort,but also reverses the causality between aDMN and SMN.

Quantitative research technology of tuina manipulations

Tuina is a physical therapy for treatment and prevention of diseases. The predecessors had summed up the systematic tuina manipulations through experiences. In order to study the scientificity and usability of the technology, the researchers established a mathematical model of tuina man ipulati ons, and used video tech no logy to capture the trajectory of the manipulations. Using the mechanical sensor to sense the real manipulations, researchers developed a tuina manipulation in strument and obtained a lot of basic mecha nics data about the man ipulati on tech no logy. Through the summary of the research results of the predecessors, accurate, true and comprehe nsive mecha nical parameters of tech no logy of tuina manipulations were obtained to guide the research and development of instruments of tuina manipulations, and promote the development of the discipline of tuina scienee.

Tendon-regulating and bone-setting manipulation plus endurance resistance exercises for female with chronic neck pain

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of tendon-regulating and bon e-setting manipulation combined with en dura nee resistance exercises in treating female with chronic neck pain,and explore the mechanism.Methods:A total of 57 female patients with chronic neck pain who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into a manipulation group(29 cases)and a medium-frequency electrotherapy group(28 cases).Patients in both groups received the same endura nee exercise therapy,while those in the man ipulation group received additi onalten don-regulating and bone-setting manipulation,and those in the medium-frequency electrotherapy group received additional medium-frequency electrotherapy.Both groups were treated for 5 weeks.Before and after treatment,the neck function of patients was evaluated by visual analog scale(VAS),Analgesy-Meter,Northwick Park questionnaire(NPQ),root mean square(RMS)and median frequency(MF)of surface electromyography of sternocleidomastoid muscle and posterior cervical extensor muscle,and the patients were followed up at a month after treatment.Results:All patients completed the treatment and were followed up.Compared with the same group before treatmerrt,the VAS scores of both groups decreased,the tenderness values increased,the RMS and MF values increased,and the NPQ scores decreased after treatment(all P<0.05).The improvement of manipulation group was more notable than that of medium-frequency electrotherapy group(all P<0.05).At one-month follow-up,the VAS and NPQ scores of the manipulation group were lower than those before and after treatment,and the VAS and NPQ scores of the mediumfreq ue ncy electrotherapy group were only lower than those before treatment;the two scores of the manipulation group were lower than those of the medium-frequency electrotherapy group(both P<0.05).Conclusion:Tendon-regulating and bone-setti ng man ipulati on combi ned with endurance resista nee exe rcises can relieve neck pain and cervical dysfunction in female patients with chronic neck pain.The efficacy of this method is more durable and better than that of medium-frequency electrotherapy combined with enduranee exercises.