Spinal Mechanisms of Pain Control

Abstract

Objectives: To demonstrate initial results using Khan Kinetic Treatment (KKT) as a chronic neck pain treatment and to present pain control mechanistic theory on which the treatment is based.Methods: A self-reported functional assessment, neck pain questionnaire, and pain medication dose were used as outcome measures for 44 matched patients randomly split into 2 groups (''treatment'' and ''control''). The treatment group underwent a treatment period consisting of several individual KKT treatments, whereas the control group continued conventional therapy.Results: Compared with a control group, the treatment group lowered both their self-recorded neck pain scores (P = 0.012) and pain medication dose (P = 0.048), although current functional assessment questionnaires (range of motion, overall activity, and recreation/work activities) did not detect changes (P = 0.233, 0.311, and 0.472, respectively). Discussion:We address the theory of the pain control mechanisms of the device in detail. Although we await randomized placebo controlled trials and additional results from ongoing mechanistic studies, initial results show that KKT is potentially an effective treatment for chronic neck pain and may contribute to the reduction of pain relieving medication.

Is vibration truly an injurious stimulus in the human spine?

“…However, the effect of vibration frequency was significant only at high amplitudes (Kasra et al, 2003;Desmoulin et al, in press). Interestingly, at least two clinical treatments use vibrations applied between 18-80 Hz to decrease low back pain; results have shown success comparable to that obtained using conventional physiotherapy (Rittweger et al, 2002a(Rittweger et al, , 2007bDesmoulin et al, 2007).…”

“…The resonant frequencies mentioned above fall within the average range of vibrations produced in common environments: 0.1-0.6 Hz causes motion sickness (Safety, 1998) Forklifts/bulldozers/tractors: 1-7 Hz (Kumar et al, 1999) (0.4-2.3 m/s 2 ; Safety, 1998) Ford focus: 2-30 Hz (Qiu and Griffin, 2004) Stationary equipment and buildings: 420 Hz Physiotheraphy systems 18-180 Hz (Rittweger et al, 2002a;Abercromby et al, 2007aAbercromby et al, , 2007bDesmoulin et al, 2007) The International Standards Organization (ISO) has established a standard for evaluating human exposure to whole-body vibrations (ISO 2631). In general, the standard addresses the evaluation of translational whole-body vibrations for standing, sitting, or recumbent humans between 0.5-80 Hz (Griefahn and Brode, 1999).…”

“…Various studies have indicated a reduction of spine-related pain (Desmoulin et al, 2007;Foundation, 2009) and an increase in disc height (Holguin et al, 2009). …”

Possible Mechanisms for the Effects of Sound Vibration on Human Health

“…Application: Focused Vibration for Chronic Back Pain An important emerging application for vibration among human patients is for the treatment of spine related chronic back and neck pain. Desmoulin et al (2007 and conducted two similar studies recruiting both chronic neck pain and chronic back pain patients and tested vibration (80-120 Hz) delivered directly to the C1 vertebrae of the spine. They found a significant improvement in pain, an improvement in range of motion, and a reduction in pain medication dosage after one month of vibration stimulation.…”

“…The improved pain may be due to the anabolic effects of vibration on the intervertebral discs, which could have an anti-inflammatory effect to prevent discogenic back pain. Another possible mechanism may be that vibration analgesia is produced by neural input at specific frequencies that alter central nervous system processes [ 107 , 243 , 244 ], however it is still unclear how this may work. Range of motion of the spine has also improved and is likely due to vibration.…”