Evaluation the effects of Massage Gun on pain and range of mation in the upper Trapezius myofascial trigger point, a randomized clinical Trial

Investigating the therapeutic effect of massage gun in a patient with pain and limitation of neck movement caused by muscle trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle

There are two study groups (massage gun and acupuncture), with 20 patients in each (total 40 patient). Study is blinded, and random assignment is done by using a random-numbers-table

The study is carried out in the sports-medicine-clinic of Taleghani-Hospital, Tehran Consent is obtained and patients fill out the NPQ-questionnaire. The measurement is done while sitting on a chair, and the treatment is done on the bed(prone position) Statistician and measurer of treatment parameters, take the information as a code

Age18_65 years Presence of a clinically relevant painful point Not suffering from major depression, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome Not suffering from life-threatening metabolic diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, coagulation status) no pregnancy No history of head, neck or shoulder surgery BMI below 30 kg/m2

Patients are divided into two treatment groups and are treated with massage gun or acupuncture. Massage gun treatment sessions: with small round ball, at low-speed (level-1) for 5 minutes (massage for 5 seconds at each point, then move to the next point and repeating the process) Acupuncture treatment sessions: performed with 25 mm disposable steel needles (0.25 mm thickness) of Huanqiao-Company, and the number of needles per session is 3 to 10. 3 treatment sessions are performed, with a minimum interval of two days, and all is done at maximum in two weeks.

pain and range of motion

In order to achieve bias and comparability between the two groups, a generation method is used to assign individuals to the case and control groups. The method used in this study is the generation of random numbers. In this way, a number is generated randomly for each participant in the study. After generating random numbers with the help of statistical software, a threshold value, for example 0.5, is determined to determine whether the individual is assigned to the control or the case group. For example, if the random number assigned to the individual is less than 0.5. In order to assign individuals to groups, the participants are distributed to the control groups and examined to have an identification process of the participants in each group. If the absence between the two groups is severe, the participants are re-randomized. SPSS software is used to generate random numbers. To conduct random assignment and assign participants to intervention and control groups in this study, the following steps were taken using SPSS: 1. **Creating New Variables**: A new variable named "Group" was created in the SPSS data file to determine the intervention and control groups. 2. **Generating Random Numbers**: The `RV.UNIFORM(0,1)` function was used to generate random numbers between 0 and 1 for each participant. This function can be executed in SPSS by going to the `Transform` menu and selecting `Compute Variable`. 3. **Defining the Threshold**: A threshold value of 0.5 was set. The random numbers generated for each participant were compared to this threshold. 4. **Assigning Groups**: If the random number generated for a participant was less than 0.5, they were assigned to the intervention group (e.g., value of 1); otherwise, they were assigned to the control group (e.g., value of 0). This assignment was implemented using the following SPSS command: ```plaintext IF (RV.UNIFORM(0,1) < 0.5) Group = 1. ELSE Group = 0. EXECUTE. ``` 5. **Checking Randomization Distribution**: After randomization, the distribution of participants in the intervention and control groups was checked to ensure the randomization process had resulted in a balanced representation of participants in each group.

The assessment before and after the treatment is done by a sports medicine resident who is not involved in the treatment, and the information collection form, does not include written information on the treatment method. The analysis is done by Amarist and the information of the two groups is delivered to Amarist with a code for evaluation.