Distance electrotherapy versus low pulsed electromagnetic field in the treatment of lower back myofascial syndrome: A randomized control trial

Background: The impact of low back pain is about 60% -90% of the working-age population in the industrial society.Myofascial pain syndrome is characterized by shortening of the muscles with increased tone and associated with trigger points that aggravated during the activity of daily living.Objective: To compare the effects of distance electrotherapy versus low pulsed electromagnetic fields on the treatment of lower back myofascial syndrome.Methods: The 60 participants in this randomized, double-blinded, pre-post experimental study with lower back myofascial syndrome ranged in age from 30 to 50.The participants were classified into three groups at random and the three groups received the same traditional physical therapyprogram; group (A) (n = 20), which received distance electrotherapy, group (B) (n = 20),which received low pulsed electromagnetic field and group (C) (n=20) which received traditional physical therapy alone.Visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability Questionnaire (ODQ) and the inclinometer were used to quantify pain intensity, functional disability and lumbar range of motion (ROM) for flexion and extension respectively, at the baseline and four weeks following therapy.Results: Within-group comparisons revealed statistically significant improvements (P<0.05) in all outcome measures across all groups.All outcome measures for all groups showed a significant improvement in the between-group comparisons (P<0.05), with the distance electrotherapy group improving more than the low pulsed electromagnetic group.