The INTRACELL as an Instrument of Choice in the Management of Myofascial Back Pain

Design: A convenience sample of 20 subjects, diagnosed as having low back pain of trigger point origin, were selected. A pre-test / post-test design was employed whereby each subject could serve as their own control. For the purpose of this study, 8 of the 20 subjects applied the therapeutic intervention to themselves, while the remaining 12 subjects had a trained therapist apply the Intracell. Correlated t-tests were used to analyze the data for significance.

Setting: The study was conducted in a private clinical environment.

Intervention: Testing for pain and sensitivity was taken pre- and post- intervention by means of pressure threshold measures over primary trigger points. Immediately following the pre-intervention pressure threshold measures Intracell procedures were administered to the trigger points as described above. Immediately following the intervention with the Intracell, post-intervention pressure threshold measures were taken.

Results: The volunteers in this study demonstrated significant gains in pressure threshold measures immediately following intervention with the Intracell. It is interesting to note that the subjects who self-administered [t=6.3, p=0.0004] demonstrated slightly greater improvements than did their counterparts [t=4.5, p=0.0009].

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the deep, massaging action of the Intracell will immediately and significantly reduce the pain and sensitivity of trigger point activity. It is apparent that the Intracell can have a significant impact on the modulation of myofascial back pain, both in the industrial and clinical setting.