scholarly journals Correlations between the active straight leg raise, sleep and somatosensory sensitivity during pregnancy with post-partum lumbopelvic pain: an initial exploration

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren John Beales ◽  
Odette Gaynor ◽  
Jasmine Harris ◽  
Robyn Fary ◽  
Peter Bruce O’Sullivan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and aims For some women, lumbopelvic pain (LPP) developed during pregnancy becomes a continuing post-partum problem. Increased understanding of potential prognostic factors is required. This study investigated whether active straight leg raise (ASLR), sleep dysfunction and pressure pain sensitivity during pregnancy are correlated with LPP intensity and quality, disability, and physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) post-partum. Methods An exploratory, prospective cohort study design was used. Baseline factors of interest were: (1) ASLR, (2) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and (3) pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) collected from pregnant women from sites local and distal to the lumbopelvic area. Follow-up data collected 11–18 months post-partum (n=29) were: (1) pain intensity score (numerical rating scale), (2) pain quality (McGill Pain Questionnaire), (3) disability (Pelvic Girdle Questionnaire), and (4) HRQoL (36-item Short Form Health Survey). Correlation analysis was performed. Results Greater difficulty with an ASLR during pregnancy correlated with lower post-partum physical HRQoL scores (r=−0.563, p=0.002). Likewise, reduced PPTs at the sacrum during pregnancy was correlated with a higher post-partum pain quality score (r=−0.384, p=0.040). Conclusions In this cohort, findings indicate that poor ASLR performance and localised pressure pain hypersensitivity at the pelvis during pregnancy are correlated with post-partum physical HRQoL and pain quality, respectively. Implications Pain sensitivity may contribute to the prognosis of women with LPP during pregnancy. These explorative findings may be important for designing larger prognostic studies and may assist in directing potential pain management in post-partum LPP.

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Pallisgaard Støve ◽  
Rogerio Pessoto Hirata ◽  
Thorvaldur Skuli Palsson

Abstract Objectives The effect of stretching on joint range of motion is well documented, and although sensory perception has significance for changes in the tolerance to stretch following stretching the underlining mechanisms responsible for these changes is insufficiently understood. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of endogenous pain inhibitory mechanisms on stretch tolerance and to investigate the relationship between range of motion and changes in pain sensitivity. Methods Nineteen healthy males participated in this randomized, repeated-measures crossover study, conducted on 2 separate days. Knee extension range of motion, passive resistive torque, and pressure pain thresholds were recorded before, after, and 10 min after each of four experimental conditions; (i) Exercise-induced hypoalgesia, (ii) two bouts of static stretching, (iii) resting, and (iv) a remote, painful stimulus induced by the cold pressor test. Results Exercise-induced hypoalgesia and cold pressor test caused an increase in range of motion (p<0.034) and pressure pain thresholds (p<0.027). Moderate correlations in pressure pain thresholds were found between exercise-induced hypoalgesia and static stretch (Rho>0.507, p=0.01) and exercise-induced hypoalgesia and the cold pressor test (Rho=0.562, p=0.01). A weak correlation in pressure pain thresholds and changes in range of motion were found following the cold pressor test (Rho=0.460, p=0.047). However, a potential carryover hypoalgesic effect may have affected the results of the static stretch. Conclusions These results suggest that stretch tolerance may be linked with endogenous modulation of pain. Present results suggest, that stretch tolerance may merely be a marker for pain sensitivity which may have clinical significance given that stretching is often prescribed in the rehabilitation of different musculoskeletal pain conditions where reduced endogenous pain inhibition is frequently seen.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Daniel Viggiani ◽  
Jack P. Callaghan

Viscoelastic creep generated in the lumbar spine following sustained spine flexion may affect the relationship between tissue damage and perceived pain. Two processes supporting this altered relationship include altered neural feedback and inflammatory processes. Our purpose was to determine how low back mechanical pain sensitivity changes following seated lumbar spine flexion using pressure algometry in a repeated-measures, cross-sectional laboratory design. Thirty-eight participants underwent a 10-minute sustained seated maximal flexion exposure with a 40-minute standing recovery period. Pressure algometry assessed pressure pain thresholds and the perceived intensity and unpleasantness of fixed pressures. Accelerometers measured spine flexion angles, and electromyography measured muscular activity during flexion. The flexion exposure produced 4.4° (2.7°) of creep that persisted throughout the entire recovery period. The perception of low back stimulus unpleasantness was elevated immediately following the exposure, 20 minutes before a delayed increase in lumbar erector spinae muscle activity. Women reported the fixed pressures to be more intense than men. Sustained flexion had immediate consequences to the quality of mechanical stimulus perceived but did not alter pressure pain thresholds. Neural feedback and inflammation seemed unlikely mechanisms for this given the time and direction of pain sensitivity changes, leaving a postulated cortical influence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-344
Author(s):  
Line Kjeldgaard Pedersen ◽  
Polina Martinkevich ◽  
Ole Rahbek ◽  
Lone Nikolajsen ◽  
Bjarne Møller-Madsen

AbstractBackground and aimsThis prospective study aimed to assess pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) by pressure algometry and the correlation to postoperative pain in children undergoing orthopaedic surgery. We hypothesized, that the PPTs would decline immediately after elective orthopaedic surgery and return to baseline values at follow-up.MethodsThirty children aged 6–16 years were included. PPTs and intensity of pain (Numerical Rating Scale, NRS) were assessed 3–6 weeks before surgery (baseline), 1–2 h before surgery (Day 0), the first postoperative day (Day 1) and 6–12 weeks after surgery (Follow-up).ResultsA significant difference of PPTs between the four assessments was seen using the Friedman test for detecting differences across multiple tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank test with a Bonferroni adjustment. The changes in PPTs between baseline (PPTcrus = 248 kPa, PPTthenar = 195 kPa) and day 1 (PPTcrus = 146 kPa, PPTthenar = 161 kPa) showed a decline of PPTs as hypothesized (Zcrus = 2.373, p = 0.018; Zthenar = 0.55, p = 0.581). More surprisingly, a significant decrease in PPTs between baseline and day 0, just before surgery (PPTcrus = 171 kPa, PPTthenar = 179 kPa), was also measured (Zcrus = 2.475, p = 0.013; Zthenar = 2.414, p = 0.016). PPTs were positively correlated to higher age, weight and height; but not to NRS or opioid equivalent use.ConclusionsChildren undergoing orthopaedic surgery demonstrate significant changes in PPTs over time. The PPTs decrease significantly between baseline and day 0, further decreases the first day postoperatively and returns to baseline values at follow-up. This suggests that other factors than surgery modulate the threshold for pain.ImplicationsAwareness of pressure pain thresholds may help identify children with affected pain perception and hence improve future pain management in children undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Factors as for example anticipatory anxiety, psychological habitus, expected pain, catastrophizing, distraction, physical activity, patient education and preoperative pain medication might play a role in the perception of pain and need further investigation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2;23 (4;2) ◽  
pp. 219-227
Author(s):  
César Fernández-de-las-Peñas

Background: A method for assessing dynamic muscle hyperalgesia (dynamic pressure algometry) has been developed and applied in tension-type and migraine headaches. Objectives: To investigate differences in dynamic pressure pain assessment over the trigeminal area between men with cluster headache (CH) and headache-free controls, and the association between dynamic and static pressure pain sensitivity. Study Design: A case-control study. Setting: Tertiary urban hospital. Methods: Forty men with episodic CH and 40 matched controls participated. Dynamic pressure pain sensitivity was assessed with a dynamic pressure algometry set consisting of 8 rollers with different fixed levels (500, 700, 850, 1,350, 1,550, 2,200, 3,850, and 5,300 g). Each roller was moved at a speed of 0.5 cm/sec over a diagonal line covering the temporalis muscle from an anterior to posterior direction. The dynamic pressure threshold (DPT; load level of the first painful roller) and the pain intensity perceived at the DPT level (roller-evoked pain) were assessed. Static pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were also assessed with a digital pressure algometer applied statically over the mid-muscle belly of the temporalis. Patients were assessed in a remission phase, at least 3 months from the last cluster attack, and without preventive medication. Results: Side-to-side consistency between DPTs (r = 0.781, P < 0.001), roller-evoked pain on DPT (r = 0.586; P < 0.001), and PPTs (r = 0.874; P < 0.001) were found in men with CH. DPT was moderately, bilaterally, and side-to-side associated with PPTs (0.663 > r > 0.793, all P < 0.001). Men with CH had bilateral lower DPT and PPT and reported higher levels of rollerevoked pain (all P < 0.001) than headache-free controls. Limitations: Only men with episodic CH were included. Conclusions: This study supports that a dynamic pressure algometry is as valid as a static pressure algometry for assessing pressure pain sensitivity in patients with CH. Assessing both dynamic and static pain sensitivity may provide new opportunities for differentiated diagnostics. Key words: Cluster headache, dynamic pressure pain, pressure pain threshold


Pain Medicine ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1379-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ortega-Santiago ◽  
Maite Maestre-Lerga ◽  
César Fernández-de-las-Peñas ◽  
Joshua A Cleland ◽  
Gustavo Plaza-Manzano

Abstract Objectives The presence of trigger points (MTrPs) and pressure pain sensitivity has been well documented in subjects with neck and back pain; however, it has yet to be examined in people with upper thoracic spine pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of MTrPs and mechanical pain sensitivity in individuals with upper thoracic spine pain. Methods Seventeen subjects with upper thoracic spine pain and 17 pain-free controls without spine pain participated. MTrPs were examined bilaterally in the upper trapezius, rhomboid, iliocostalis thoracic, levator scapulae, infraspinatus, and anterior and middle scalene muscles. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were assessed over T2, the C5-C6 zygapophyseal joint, the second metacarpal, and the tibialis anterior. Results The numbers of MTrPs between both groups were significantly different (P < 0.001) between patients and controls. The number of MTrPs for each patient with upper thoracic spine pain was 12.4 ± 2.8 (5.7 ± 4.0 active TrPs, 6.7 ± 3.4 latent TrPs). The distribution of MTrPs was significantly different between groups, and active MTrPs within the rhomboid (75%), anterior scalene (65%), and middle scalene (47%) were the most prevalent in patients with upper thoracic spine pain. A higher number of active MTrPs was associated with greater pain intensity and longer duration of pain history. Conclusions This study identified active MTrPs and widespread pain hypersensitivity in subjects with upper thoracic spine pain compared with asymptomatic people. Identifying proper treatment strategies might be able to reduce pain and improve function in individuals with upper thoracic spine pain. However, future studies are needed to examine this.


Cephalalgia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Fernández-de-las-Peñas ◽  
P Madeleine ◽  
AB Caminero ◽  
ML Cuadrado ◽  
L Arendt-Nielsen ◽  
...  

Spatial changes in pressure pain hypersensitivity are present throughout the cephalic region (temporalis muscle) in both chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) and unilateral migraine. The aim of this study was to assess pressure pain sensitivity topographical maps on the trapezius muscle in 20 patients with CTTH and 20 with unilateral migraine in comparison with 20 healthy controls in a blind design. For this purpose, a pressure algometer was used to assess pressure pain thresholds (PPT) over 11 points of the trapezius muscle: four points in the upper part of the muscle, two over the levator scapulae muscle, two in the middle part, and the remaining three points in the lower part of the muscle. Pressure pain sensitivity maps of both sides (dominant/non-dominant; symptomatic/non-symptomatic) were depicted for patients and controls. CTTH patients showed generalized lower PPT levels compared with both migraine patients ( P = 0.03) and controls ( P < 0.001). The migraine group had also lower PPT than healthy controls ( P < 0.001). The most sensitive location for the assessment of PPT was the neck portion of the upper trapezius muscle in both patient groups and healthy controls ( P < 0.001). PPT was negatively related to some clinical pain features in both CTTH and unilateral migraine patients (all P < 0.05). Side-to-side differences were found in strictly unilateral migraine, but not in those subjects with bilateral pain, i.e. CTTH. These data support the influence of muscle hyperalgesia in both CTTH and unilateral migraine patients and point towards a general pressure pain hyperalgesia of neck-shoulder muscles in headache patients, particularly in CTTH.


Author(s):  
Т. Є. Одинець ◽  
Ю. А. Бріскін

The objective of the paper is to determine the effectiveness of problem-oriented physical rehabilitation of women with post-mastectomy syndrome in terms of normalization of their sensitivity and lessening of the pain syndrome.Materials and methods. The paper provides a review of the related literary sources and empirical data analyzed and summarized, offers definitions of pain by the Visual Analogue Scale, McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Verbal Rating Scale, evaluates tactile and pain sensitivity, and uses the methods of mathematical statistics. The participants in the study were 50 women with diagnosed with the post-mastectomy syndrome and at the stage of residential treatment.Results: The developed problem-oriented physical rehabilitation experimentally proved effective by showing improvements in tactile and pain sensitivity, and pain lessening by the sensory, affective and rating scales in women with post-mastectomy syndrome at the stage of residential treatment.


Cephalalgia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 033310242110565
Author(s):  
Jan Petter Neverdahl ◽  
Martin Uglem ◽  
Dagfinn Matre ◽  
Johannes Orvin Hansen ◽  
Morten Engstrøm ◽  
...  

Objective There is an unexplained association between disturbed sleep and migraine. In this blinded crossover study, we investigate if experimental sleep restriction has a different effect on pain thresholds and suprathreshold pain in interictal migraineurs and controls. Methods Forearm heat pain thresholds and tolerance thresholds, and trapezius pressure pain thresholds and suprathreshold pain were measured in 39 interictal migraineurs and 31 healthy controls after two consecutive nights of partial sleep restriction and after habitual sleep. Results The effect of sleep restriction was not significantly different between interictal migraineurs and controls in the primary analyses. Pressure pain thresholds tended to be lower (i.e., increased pain sensitivity) after sleep restriction in interictal migraineurs compared to controls with a 48-hour preictal-interictal cut-off (p = 0.061). We found decreased pain thresholds after sleep restriction in two of seven migraine subgroup comparisons: heat pain thresholds decreased in migraineurs with lower pain intensity during attacks (p = 0.005) and pressure pain thresholds decreased in migraineurs with higher severity of photophobia during attacks (p = 0.031). Heat pain thresholds tended to decrease after sleep restriction in sleep-related migraine (p = 0.060). Sleep restriction did not affect suprathreshold pain measurements in either group. Conclusion This study could not provide strong evidence for an increased effect of sleep restriction on pain sensitivity in migraineurs compared to healthy controls. There might be a slightly increased effect of sleep restriction in migraineurs, detectable using large samples or more pronounced in certain migraine subgroups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1251
Author(s):  
Francisca Curiel-Montero ◽  
Francisco Alburquerque-Sendín ◽  
César Fernández-de-las-Peñas ◽  
Daiana P. Rodrigues-de-Souza

Objective: The aim of this scoping review was to identify if the phase of the menstrual cycle was considered in observational studies comparing pressure pain sensitivity between women with migraine or tension-type headache (TTH) and headache-free women. Methods: A systematic electronic literature search in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL databases was conducted. Observational studies including one or more groups with TTH and/or migraine comparing pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were included. The methodological quality (risk of bias) was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Authors, objectives, inclusion/exclusion criteria, size sample, female sample, tool to assess PPTs, mean age, and the use of any medication were extracted and analyzed independently by two authors. Results: From a total of 1404 and 1832 identified articles for TTH and migraine, 30 and 18 studies satisfied the criteria and were included. Nineteen (63.4%) studies assessing TTH patients and eleven (61.1%) assessing migraine patients showed a high risk of bias. The most common flaws were attributed to improper selection of control and control over other additional factors. Based on the systematic review, just one study including TTH and one including migraine patients considered the menstrual cycle. Conclusion: The results of this scoping review identified that the phase of the menstrual cycle has been rarely considered in studies investigating sensitivity to pressure pain in primary headaches, such as TTH or migraine, although there is evidence showing the relevance of the phase of the menstrual cycle in pain perception.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Evans ◽  
Keith E. Naugle ◽  
Alex Ovispo ◽  
Anthony S. Kaleth ◽  
Brent Arnold ◽  
...  

Separately, both physical activity and virtual reality can attenuate pain sensitivity in healthy adults. What is unknown is whether virtual reality combined with physical activity (active virtual reality) could have a greater hypoalgesic effect compared to non-active virtual reality distraction (passive virtual reality engagement).Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether playing physically active virtual reality games exert a greater hypoalgesic effect than a non-active virtual reality game.Methods: Participants (n = 36) played three different active virtual reality games (Beat Saber, Holopoint, and Hot Squat) and one non-active virtual reality game (Relax Walk) for 15 min on four different visits. During gameplay, participants wore accelerometers on the thigh, wrist, and waist to measure movement intensity and quantity. Pressure pain thresholds were measured on the forearm and thigh immediately prior to gameplay (pretest) and immediately following each gaming bout (posttest).Results: Analysis of the accelerometer data indicated that Hot Squat elicited greater whole-body and lower body moderate to vigorous physical activity compared to the other games. The ANOVA revealed an overall hypoalgesic effect of the virtual reality games on the forearm, regardless of game type. Results also showed a significant hypoalgesic effect on the thigh following gameplay for Hot Squat, Holopoint, and Relax Walk VR. The magnitude of pain reduction was significantly greater during Hot Squat compared to the other games.Conclusion: Virtual reality gameplay exerted a hypoalgesic effect on experimental pressure pain. Additionally, the data provided evidence of a potential enhanced hypoalgesic effect of physically active virtual reality compared to non-active VR on pressure pain sensitivity.


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