Effectiveness of Manual and Instrumental Myofascial Release in Chronic Low Back Pain and the Posture of Practitioners CrossFit®

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Low Back Pain

• Registration Number: NCT06715761
• Lead Sponsor: Gabriela Souza de Vasconcelos

Brief Summary

Background: Chronic low back pain (LBP) can lead to major functional disabilities and force people to take time off work, sports or leisure activities. Regular physical exercise is an important ally in reducing the risk factors for most diseases, and CrossFit® is one of the modalities that has been gaining momentum when choosing an exercise. However, the intensity recommended in training can collaborate with the development of musculoskeletal problems such as pain and postural changes, interfering with the development of the practice, with low back pain being one of the most common disorders in these practitioners, especially caused by mechanical stress. Considering that CrossFit® practitioners have already incorporated physical exercise into their routine, passive techniques such as myofascial release (ML) have been discussed as a form of treatment for LBP. For this reason, this study was designed to verify the efficacy of ML in the LBP of CrossFit® practitioners, comprising two techniques, one manual and one instrumental, and to see if the outcome of the LBP alters the posture of the spine.

This is a randomised controlled clinical that will be conducted in a CrossFit® box in the city of Goiânia-GO, Brazil. At least 51 people will take part who have been doing CrossFit® for at least 3 months, who have LBP, are aged between 18-59 and are not undergoing any other treatment for low back pain. There will be two experimental groups, one that will receive manual MR and the other, cupping therapy, as well as a control group that will not receive any technique. The sessions will take place twice a week for 8 weeks. The primary outcome will be low back pain intensity, assessed at baseline, weekly and after 8 weeks, and the secondary outcomes, which will be postural deviations, spinal mobility and history of musculoskeletal pain, assessed at baseline and at the end of 8 weeks. There will be no blinding between therapist and participants.

Discussion: This study will investigate whether MR is effective in relation to LBP, given that some results have already shown positive responses in acute conditions, while also verifying the repercussions on the postural aspect. The results could provide additional knowledge about the best technique to use and, having applicability to our outcomes, will favour and simplify treatment, helping professionals to make clinical decisions.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-11-01
• Study First Submitted: 2024-11-13
• Status Verified: 2024-12
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-12-03
• Study First Posted: 2024-12-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-12-04
• Last Update Posted: 2024-12-09
• Primary Completion: 2025-07-30
• Study Completion: 2025-07-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 51

Inclusion Criteria

• men and women aged between 18 and 59 years;
• presence of low back pain for at least 12 weeks;
• have started regular CrossFit® activity at least 3 months ago.

Exclusion Criteria

• perform other physical activity than CrossFit®;
• continuous use of painkillers;
• previous pathologies or spinal surgery;
• amputations;
• haematological disorders;
• fibromyalgia;
• hypersensitivity or skin lesions.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Pain intensity	Baseline, once a week throughout the intervention period (at the beginning of each week) and post intervention (8 weeks)	Pain intensity, related to chronic low back pain, will be measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), where 0 represents "no pain" and 10 represents "the worst pain possible". Participants will indicate their usual pain.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Spinal postural deviations	Baseline and post intervention (8 weeks)	Spinal postural deviations will be measured using a flexible lead ruler called a Flexicurve (Trident®). Initially, the anatomical points of the spinous processes of the C7, T1, T6, T12, L1, L4, L5, S1 and S2 vertebrae will be marked on the participant's skin with a white dermatographic pencil (Hintz®). The flexicurve will then be moulded and the anatomical reference points will also be marked on the body of the ruler. After this, the ruler will be positioned in the centre of the page of a 420mmX549mm piece of graph paper (Tracing Pad®), where its shape will be reproduced. For the analysis, the drawings with the shapes of the curvatures of the spine will be photographed and entered into the Dynamic Posture software.
Spine mobility	Baseline and post intervention (8 weeks)	Spinal mobility will be analysed using Finger Tip Test. For the Finger Tip Test, the participant will stand and then be instructed to flex their trunk as if they wanted to touch their hands to the floor. The distance between the distal phalanx of the 3rd finger of the hand and the floor will be measured with a tape measure (Incoterm®).
History of musculoskeletal pain	Baseline and post intervention (8 weeks)	A history of musculoskeletal pain will be taken using the Questionnaire For Evaluation Of Musculoskeletal Pain In Exercise Practitioners (Q-ADOM). The questionnaire is used to screen for musculoskeletal pain in exercise practitioners and, although it has domains that can cover any type of pain, the participant will be instructed to answer the visual analogue scale (item 1) and the other items, only considering the intensity of the pain and the symptoms related to their chronic low back pain.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Federal University of Goias; 🇧🇷 Goiânia, Goias, Brazil