A Comparative Study on the Effect of PTN on Improving Upper Back Muscle Stiffness

Abstract

It is believed that the tender point is an area where the pain threshold is low and the pain receptor for that area elicits hyperalgesia by sensitization. Although it was reported that the origin of the tender point has not been sufficiently studied. In this study, the muscle branches of the 3 rd and 4 th cervical nerves were distributed on the muscle where tender points accompanied by upper back muscle stiffness were recognized. Moreover, the supraclavicular nerves, which are the cutaneous branches of the abovementioned nerves, innervate the region of the skin in the proximity of the upper back, which covers these muscles. Therefore, since the PTN treatment on the tactile tender point can be stimulation on the skin, which is innervated by the same nerve as the muscle where the upper back muscle stiffness has occurred, it is thought that the upper back muscle stiffness improved by the change in pain threshold through the receptor of the skin sensory nerve.