Effects of acupuncture on chronic neck and shoulder pain in individuals with office syndrome in Phayao, Thailand

Abstract

Office syndrome is caused by prolonged sitting at work and ergonomically awkward working postures with repetitive use of the same neck and shoulder muscles. As a result, the posterior neck muscles for neck support work harder and causes tension in the muscles at the neck and shoulder areas, leading to pain and reduction of cervical range of motion. These symptoms can be cured with acupuncture. This experimental research study determined the effects of five consecutive acupuncture sessions on the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) and the cervical range of motion (CROM) in office syndrome patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain in Phayao Province, Thailand. All 40 volunteers (14 males and 26 females) were measured on the VAS and CROM scales before and after five acupuncture sessions. The acupoints in this study were Fengchi (GB20), Tianzhu (BL10), Bailao (EX-HN15), Dazhu (BL11), Jianjing (GB21), Jianwaishu (SI14), Jianzhongshu (SI15), Hegu (LI14), Taichong (LR3), and the trigger point. The data were analyzed into frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and median. In addition, the paired sample t-test for the VAS and CROM variables was used for the data comparison before and after the five acupuncture sessions. After five acupuncture sessions, our results showed that the VAS decreased from level 5 to level 1 whereas the CROM increased significantly in all directions including flexion, extension, left lateral flexion, right lateral flexion, left rotation, and right rotation (46.35 ± 11.35 vs 62.68 ± 8.66, 52.18 ± 13.00 vs 68.09 ± 11.80, 37.81 ± 7.07 vs 52.96 ± 8.72, 37.57 ± 9.49 vs 49.96 ± 8.87, 65.50 ± 14.38 vs 81.24 ±10.59, and 63.04 ± 13.41 vs 76.64 ± 10.61; p<0.01, respectively). In conclusion, five acupuncture sessions for five consecutive days can reduce the chronic neck and shoulder pain from a level of 5 to 1 on the VAS. Additionally, volunteers were able to perform CROM in all directions more efficiently than the pre-treatment.