scholarly journals The Relationship between Fibromyalgia and Pressure Pain Threshold in Patients with Dyspareunia

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Terzi ◽  
Rabia Terzi ◽  
Ahmet Kale

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the number of tender points, pressure pain threshold and presence of fibromyalgia among women with or without dyspareunia.METHODS: The present cross-sectional study included 40 patients with dyspareunia and 30 healthy controls. The participants were asked if they had engaged in sexual intercourse during the previous four weeks, and dyspareunia was rated from 0 to 3 based on the Marinoff Dyspareunia Scale. A pressure algometer (dolorimeter) was used to measure the pressure pain threshold. Fibromyalgia was diagnosed based on the 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria. The depression status of the participants was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory.RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found with regard to age, body mass index, habits (alcohol use and smoking), educational status and occupational status between the two groups. Total myalgic score, total control score and tender point mean pain threshold were significantly lower in the group with dyspareunia. The number of tender points was significantly higher in patients with dyspareunia. The mean Beck Depression Inventory score was 14.7 ±8.4 in the dyspareunia group compared with 11.2 ±7.1 in the control group. Five (12.5%) of the patients with dyspareunia were diagnosed with fibromyalgia, whereas no patients in the control group were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. There was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to the presence of fibromyalgia.CONCLUSION: The finding of lower pressure pain thresholds and a higher number of tender points among patients with dyspareunia suggests that these patients may have increased generalized pain thresholds. Additional studies involving a larger number of patients are required to investigate the presence of central mechanisms in the pathogenesis of dyspareunia.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 4062
Author(s):  
Ángela Río-González ◽  
Ester Cerezo-Téllez ◽  
Cristina Gala-Guirao ◽  
Laura González-Fernández ◽  
Raquel Díaz-Meco Conde ◽  
...  

The aim of this study is to describe the short-term effects of manual lymph drainage (MLD) isolated in supraclavicular area in healthy subjects. A 4-week cross-sectional, double-blinded randomized clinical trial was conducted. Participants: 24 healthy participants between 18 and 30 years old were recruited from Universidad Europea de Madrid from December 2018 to September 2019. A total of four groups were studied: control, placebo, Vodder, and Godoy. The order of the interventions was randomized. Resting Heart Rate and Oxygen Saturation, blood pressure, pressure pain threshold of trapezius muscle, respiratory rate, range of active cervical movements were measured before and after every intervention. All the participants fulfilled four different interventions with a one-week-wash-out period. No statistically significant differences were found between groups in descriptive data; neither in saturation of oxygen, diastolic blood pressure and cervical range of motion. Significant differences were found in favor of Vodder (p = 0.026) in heart rate diminution and in cardiac-rate-reduction. A significant difference in respiratory rate diminution is found in favor of the Godoy group in comparison with the control group (p = 0.020). A significant difference is found in favor of the Godoy group in systolic blood pressure decrease (p = 0.015) even in pressure pain threshold (p < 0.05). MLD decreases systolic blood pressure in healthy participants. However, it does not produce any changes in other physiologic outcomes maintaining physiologic values, which may suggest the safety of the technique in patients suffering from other pathologies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Sylwander ◽  
Ingrid Larsson ◽  
Emma Haglund ◽  
Stefan Bergman ◽  
Maria L.E. Andersson

Abstract Background Knee osteoarthritis (KOA), chronic widespread pain (CWP) and overweight/obesity are public health problems that often coincide, and there is a multifactorial and unclear relationship between them. The study aimed to (1) investigate pain sensitivity, assessed by pressure pain thresholds (PPTs), among women and men with knee pain and (2) associations with, respectively, radiographic KOA (rKOA), CWP, and overweight/obesity. Methods Baseline data from an ongoing longitudinal study involving 280 individuals with knee pain in the 30–60 age group. Pain sensitivity was assessed by PPTs on eight different tender points using a pressure algometer. The participants’ knees were x-rayed. Self-reported CWP and number of pain sites were assessed with a pain figure, and overweight/obesity was measured using body mass index (BMI), visceral fat area (VFA), and body fat percentage, assessed with a bioimpedance. Associations were analysed using regression analyses. Results Women reported lower PPTs than men (p < 0.001), but no PPTs differences were found between those with and without rKOA. Low PPTs was associated with female sex, more pain sites, CWP, and a higher VFA and body fat percentage. The tender points second rib and the knees were most affected. The prevalence of CWP was 38 %. Conclusions The modifiable factors, increased VFA, and body fat could be associated with increased pain sensitivity among individuals with knee pain. Longitudinal studies are needed to further investigate the associations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott W. Cheatham ◽  
Kyle R. Stull ◽  
Morey J. Kolber

Background: Roller massage (RM) has become a common intervention among health and fitness professionals. Recently, manufacturers have merged the science of vibration therapy and RM with the development of vibration rollers. Of interest, is the therapeutic effects of such RM devices. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a vibration roller and nonvibration roller intervention on prone knee-flexion passive range of motion (ROM) and pressure pain threshold (PPT) of the quadriceps musculature. Methods: Forty-five recreationally active adults were randomly allocated to one of 3 groups: vibration roller, nonvibration roller, and control. Each roller intervention lasted a total of 2 minutes. The control group did not roll. Dependent variables included prone knee-flexion ROM and PPT measures. Statistical analysis included parametric and nonparametric tests to measure changes among groups. Results: The vibration roller demonstrated the greatest increase in PPT (180 kPa, P < .001), followed by the nonvibration roller (112 kPa, P < .001) and control (61 kPa, P < .001). For knee flexion ROM, the vibration roller demonstrated the greatest increase in ROM (7°, P < .001), followed by the nonvibration roller (5°, P < .001) and control (2°, P < .001). Between groups, there was a significant difference in PPT between the vibration and nonvibration roller (P = .03) and vibration roller and control (P < .001). There was also a significant difference between the nonvibration roller and control (P < .001). For knee ROM, there was no significant difference between the vibration and nonvibration roller (P = .31). A significant difference was found between the vibration roller and control group (P < .001) and nonvibration roller and control group (P < .001). Conclusion: The results suggest that a vibration roller may increase an individual’s tolerance to pain greater than a nonvibration roller. This investigation should be considered a starting point for future research on this technology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari K. Knapstad ◽  
Frederik K. Goplen ◽  
Tove Ask ◽  
Jan S. Skouen ◽  
Stein Helge G. Nordahl

Abstract Background It is theorized that neck pain may cause reduced postural control due to the known physiological connection between the receptors in the cervical spine and the vestibular system. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the pressure pain threshold in the neck is associated with postural sway in patients with dizziness or neck pain. Methods Consecutive patients with dizziness (n = 243) and neck pain (n = 129) were recruited from an otorhinolaryngological department and an outpatient spine clinic, respectively. All subjects underwent static posturography. Pressure pain thresholds were measured at four standardized points in the neck, and generalized pain was assessed using the American College of Rheumatology tender points. The relationship between postural sway and pressure pain threshold was analyzed by linear regression, and the covariates included age, sex, and generalized pain. Results In the dizzy group, there was a small, inverse relationship between pressure pain thresholds and sway area with eyes closed, after adjusting for age, sex, and generalized pain (bare platform; lower neck, p = 0.002, R2 = 0.068; upper neck, p = 0.038, R2 = 0.047; foam rubber mat; lower neck, p = 0.014, R2 = 0.085). The same inverse relationship was found between pressure pain thresholds in the neck and the Romberg ratio on a bare platform after adjusting for age, sex and generalized pain (upper neck, p = 0.15, R2 = 0.053; lower neck, p = 0.002, R2 = 0.069). Neither of these relationships were present in the neck pain group. Conclusion Our findings indicate that the pressure pain threshold in the neck is associated with postural sway in patients suffering from dizziness after adjusting for age, sex, and generalized pain, but only with closed eyes. The association was small and should be interpreted with caution. Trial registration Trial registration: Clinicaltrial.gov NCT03531619. Retrospectively registered 22 May 2018.


1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Young Song ◽  
Samuel Noh ◽  
Manfred Harth ◽  
Harold Merskey

OBJECTIVE: To explore the hypothesis that the intensity of pain, pain thresholds and coping mechanisms differ between patients with fibromyalgia and those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in order to determine whether pain coping strategies contribute to the understanding of how patients adjust to fibromyalgia.METHODS: Thirty-eight fibromyalgia patients were compared with 15 RA patients regarding severity of pain, pain history, pressure pain thresholds (measured with a pressure algometer) and pain coping strategies (measured with the Coping Strategies Questionnaire [CSQ]).RESULTS: Fibromyalgia patients scored significantly higher than RA patients on severity of pain and had lower pain thresholds at three pairs of nontender sites than the RA group. Fibromyalgia patients were significantly different from RA patients with respect to catastrophizing and increasing behavioural activity, but this differentiation was not maintained with respect to the three main factors of the CSQ. Overall, both the fibromyalgia and RA groups resembled previous chronic pain populations. Depression and anxiety had strong negative correlations with the combined coping scores on the seven subscales (P<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Patients with fibromyalgia may use some distinctive coping strategies and tend to manage their pain in many of the same ways as other patients with chronic pain.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Liew ◽  
Ho Yin Lee ◽  
David Rügamer ◽  
Alessandro Marco De Nunzio ◽  
Nicola R. Heneghan ◽  
...  

AbstractThe inter-session Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) is a commonly investigated and clinically important metric of reliability for pressure pain threshold (PPT) measurement. However, current investigations do not account for inter-repetition variability when calculating inter-session ICC, even though a PPT measurement taken at different sessions must also imply different repetitions. The primary aim was to evaluate and report a novel metric of reliability in PPT measurement: the inter-session-repetition ICC. One rater recorded ten repetitions of PPT measurement over the lumbar region bilaterally at two sessions in twenty healthy adults using a pressure algometer. Variance components were computed using linear mixed-models and used to construct ICCs; most notably inter-session ICC and inter-session-repetition ICC. At 70.1% of the total variance, the source of greatest variability was between subjects ($${\sigma }_{subj}^{2}$$ σ subj 2 = 222.28 N2), whereas the source of least variability (1.5% total variance) was between sessions ($${\sigma }_{sess}^{2}$$ σ sess 2 = 4.83 N2). Derived inter-session and inter-session-repetition ICCs were 0.88 (95%CI: 0.77 to 0.94) and 0.73 (95%CI: 0.53 to 0.84) respectively. Inter-session-repetition ICC provides a more conservative estimate of reliability than inter-session ICC, with the magnitude of difference being clinically meaningful. Quantifying individual sources of variability enables ICC construction to be reflective of individual testing protocols.


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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-50
Author(s):  
Zahra Nazari Barchestani ◽  
◽  
Maryam Rafieirad ◽  

Background: Ischemia causes severe neuronal damage and induces oxidative stress, memory impairment, and reduces pain threshold. Herniarin is a powerful antioxidant. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of herniarin on memory, pain, and oxidative stress in an ischemia model in male rats. Materials & Methods: In this study, 50 male rats were divided into 5 groups of control, sham, ischemic, and two other ischemic groups, which received herniarin at doses of 150 and 300 mg/kg by gavage for 14 days. Behavioral tests were performed by shuttle box, and Y-maze and pain tests were performed by Tail-Flick test. Then, the rats’ brains were extracted to evaluate lipid peroxidation and measure the levels of thiol and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPX) in the hippocampus and striatum tissues. The results were expressed as Mean±SEM and then analyzed using suitable statistical methods of ANOVA and least significant difference post-hoc test in SPSS V. 20. Results: Herniarin significantly increased the avoidance memory, spatial memory, and pain thresholds of ischemic rats at different concentrations (P<0.001). Besides, the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) and thiol in the ischemic group increased significantly in comparison to the control group (P<0.001). Also, in the ischemic group, GPX (P<0.001) significantly decreased. Decreased MDA (P<0.001) and thiol (P<0.001) and increased GPX levels were observed with herniarin administration (P<0.01). Conclusion: According to this study’s results, herniarin can remove free radicals and oxidant substances from the brain. Thus, it improves memory and pain thresholds in the brain hypoperfusion ischemia model.


Author(s):  
Diana Lehmann Urban ◽  
Elizabeth Lehmann ◽  
Leila Motlagh Scholle ◽  
Torsten Kraya

Background: In patients with neuromuscular disorder, only little data of myalgia frequency and characterization exists. To date, only a weak correlation between pain intensity and pressure pain threshold has been found, and it remains enigmatic whether high pain intensity levels are equivalent to high pain sensitivity levels in neuromuscular disorders. Methods: 30 sequential patients with suspected neuromuscular disorder and myalgia were analyzed with regard to myalgia characteristics and clinical findings, including symptoms of depression and anxiety and pain- threshold. Results: A neuromuscular disorder was diagnosed in 14/30 patients. Muscular pain fasciculation syndrome (MPFS) without evidence for myopathy or myositis was diagnosed in 10/30 patients and 6/30 patients were diagnosed with pure myalgia without evidence for a neuromuscular disorder (e.g., myopathy, myositis, MPFS, polymyalgia rheumatica). Highest median pain scores were found in patients with pure myalgia and polymyalgia rheumatica. Pressure pain threshold measurement showed a significant difference between patients and controls in the biceps brachii muscle. Conclusion: Only a weak correlation between pain intensity and pressure pain threshold has been suggested, which is concordant with our results. The hypothesis that high pain intensity levels are equivalent to high pain sensitivity levels was not demonstrated.


Pain Medicine ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 2267-2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebonie K Rio ◽  
Richard F Ellis ◽  
Jono M Henry ◽  
Victoria R Falconer ◽  
Zoltan S Kiss ◽  
...  

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