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The use of conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in chronic facial myalgia patients

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Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of conventional TENS in women affected by chronic facial myalgia.

Materials and methods

The study was performed on 49 women affected by chronic facial myalgia randomly allocated in the TENS group (34 women) and the control group (15 women). The subjective level of pain was assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale indicating the mean (VAS MEAN), the maximum (VAS MAX) and the current intensity of pain (VAS NOW). The level of pain at the muscular palpation sites was assessed by the Pericranial Muscle Tenderness Score (PTS) and the Cervical Muscle Tenderness Score (CTS).

The TENS therapy lasted for 10 weeks, and data were collected at baseline, after 5, 10, 15 and 25 weeks. The differences between groups before and after treatment were compared with the Mann-Whitney and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. The intra-group differences were compared with the one-way ANOVA test.

Results

The results showed that the VAS MEAN, VAS MAX, PTS and CTS were significantly reduced in the TENS group compared to the control group after 10 weeks of TENS (p < 0.05). The intra-group analysis revealed a decreasing tendency of VAS MEAN, VAS MAX, VAS NOW, PTS and CTS in the TENS group in a 25-week period (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The study demonstrated the efficacy of conventional TENS in patients with chronic facial myalgia and the decrease in both subjective and objective pain.

Clinical relevance

Conventional TENS is a safe, non-invasive, easy-to-administer therapy for chronic facial myalgia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gnathology Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Dental School, University of Torino, Lingotto, Via Nizza 230, Torino, Italy

    Ilaria De Giorgi & Andrea Deregibus

  2. Department of Surgical Sciences, Specialization School of Orthodontics, Dental School, University of Torino, Lingotto, Via Nizza 230, Torino, Italy

    Tommaso Castroflorio

  3. Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Via Bazzoni 2, 34143, Trieste, Italy

    Barbara Sartoris

Authors
  1. Ilaria De Giorgi
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  2. Tommaso Castroflorio
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  3. Barbara Sartoris
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  4. Andrea Deregibus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilaria De Giorgi.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Local Ethical Committee (#3742015) and with the Helsinki Declaration.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no relevant conflicts of interest in the preparation of the manuscript.

Funding

The study was funded by CIR Dental School, University of Torino, Italy.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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De Giorgi, I., Castroflorio, T., Sartoris, B. et al. The use of conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in chronic facial myalgia patients. Clin Oral Invest 21, 275–280 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-016-1787-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-016-1787-2

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