Fibromyalgia Tender Point Pain: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Music Vibration Using the Music Vibration Table ™

Objectives: To determine the immediate effects of music and musically fluctuating vibration on tender point pain in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS], because it was known that musically fluctuating vibration in the 60–300 Hz frequency range stimulates Pacinian corpuscles [PC]. It was speculated that PC signals might suppress nociceptive transmission via adenosine acting on P1-purinergic receptors at the spinal cord level.Methods: Fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS] patients [American College of Rheumatology criteria] were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups, either musically fluctuating vibration [60–300 Hz] as an active intervention, or a sinusoidal vibration [20 Hz] as the placebo/control treatment. Primary clinical variables, measured before and after treatment sessions, included a visual analog scale [VAS] for pain, the Tender Point Index [TPI], and the average algometric Pain Threshold [TPA].Results: Twenty-six FMS patients participated in the study. The demographics, FMS history, and symptoms data indicated no significant differences between groups. Analysis of pre- and post-VAS subjective pain scores disclosed a numerically greater change in pain among the group treated with musically fluctuating vibration, but the differences were not significant. Within the active treatment group, TPI and TPA scores improved significantly with treatment. Among the placebo control group, a significant improvement of smaller magnitude was seen in the TPI, while there was no change in the TPA value. The change in TPI did not differ significantly between groups. Eight of the nine bilateral sites [all except medial knee] showed an increase in the pressure-to-pain thresholds within the active intervention group, so the observed change was widespread.Conclusions: Musically fluctuating vibration in the frequency range of Pacinian corpuscle receptor stimulation failed to alter pain perception in FMS patients significantly more than occurred with placebo treatment. However, significant differences in the responses of FMS patients to active and placebo treatments on TPI and TPA measurements warrant further investigation. It is possible that a longer period of musically fluctuating vibration treatment, or an extended series of such treatments over time, would have exhibited more pronounced effects.