• Journal of the Korean Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.23-29
• /
• 2010

Purpose : This study is to offer clinical primary data that examines the change of imaging structure and the quantitative evaluation of muscle activity on myofascial trigger points. This study examines neuromuscular physiological characteristic by comparing the differences in physical findings, pressure pain threshold, imaging, and electrophysiological characteristics in latent and active myofascial trigger points muscle and normal muscle through the following experimental procedures. Methods : The participants for the study were thirty-three adults in their twenties. We divided three groups into normal, latent and active myofascial trigger points groups by physical findings. We analyzed the results of measured pressure pain, threshold for pain, ultrasound imaging perform for structure characteristic of muscle, surface EMG according to type of muscle contraction for function of muscle contraction. Results : Significant differences were indicated in pressure pain threshold (p<0.05). Significant differences were discovered in the ultrasound imaging analysis. There were increases in muscle Echogenicity white area index (p<0.001). There were significant differences that decrease in %MVIC (p<0.05), increase in MDF (p<0.05). Conclusion : From these results, active rnyotascial trigger points muscle showed quality deterioration on ultrasound imaging and decreased function of muscle contraction, increased motor unit action potential of II type fiber, and electrophysiologically. Imaging structure and neuromuscular physiological characteristic can be diagnostic and quantitative analytical techniques for myofascial pain syndrome and a primary factor that reflected in physical therapy intervention.

• International Journal of Contents
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.59-63
• /
• 2011

The aim of our study was to evaluate the immediate effects of an 830-nm Aluminium gallium arsenide (GaAlAs) laser, by examining the changes, in pressure-pain threshold (PPT) and tenderness at 3 kg of the myofascial trigger point (MTrP) of the upper trapezius muscle in visual display terminal (VDT) workers in comparison with placebo treatment. Thirty VDT workers (13 males, 17 females) with complaints of upper trapezius muscle were recruited. All participants were given either active GaAlAs laser (830 nm wavelength, 450 mW, 9 J at point) or placebo GaAlAs laser, according to the double-blinded and placebo-controlled trial. Both active and placebo low-level laser therapy (LLLT) treatments showed no significant effect on PPT and tenderness at 3 kg. These results suggest that a higher dosage may be necessary to produce immediate effects when applying LLLT to the MTrP of relatively large muscles such as the upper trapezius muscle.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.150-159
• /
• 1990

The patient with muscle contraction headache usually have one or more specific trigger points. These trigger points have been treated with various treatment modalities including "stretch and spray" and regional infiltration with local anesthetics with or without corticosteroids. I treated 36 patients with muscle contraction headache with regional infiltration of local anesthetics and steroid into trigger points and the results were as follows 1) The diagnosis of muscle contraction headache was possible by confirming specific trigger points by palpation. 2) Patients relieved rapidly from headache by regional infiltration of local anesthetics and steroid into the tender point. 3) Single injection was effective in relieving headache. But the curability of the single injection could not be assessed because of difficulty in follow-up study. 4) Active trigger points could be occasionally inactive, which also made difficult in assessing the effectiveness of the treatment.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.64 no.4
• /
• pp.573-577
• /
• 2015

In this paper, we propose a signal processing board suitable for a semi-active laser tracking to detect an optical signal generated from the laser target designator by applying an analog trigger signal, the quadrant photodetector and a high speed ADC(analog-digital converter) sampling technique. We improved the stability by applying the averaging method to minimize the measurement error of a gaussian pulse. To evaluate the performances of the proposed methods, we implemented a prototype board and performed experiments. As a result, we implemented a frequency counter with an error 14.9ns in 50ms. PRF error code has a stability of less than 1.5% compared to the NATO standard. Applying the three point averaging method to ADC sampling, the stability of 28% in X-axis and 22% in Y-axis than one point sampling was improved.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.433-438
• /
• 2014

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study was to compare a 975-nm, 500-mW GaAlAs low-level laser therapy versus placebo low-level laser therapy with regard to the immediate changes on the myofascial trigger point of the dominant upper trapezius muscle in subjects with rounded shoulder posture. METHODS: Thirty-two male college students with rounded shoulder posture and shoulder pain consented to participate in the experiment. The subjects were randomly assigned to a 2-minute procedure with either an active GaAlAs low-level laser or a placebo GaAlAs low-level laser. The pressure-pain threshold and visual analog scale on tenderness at 3 kg were measured with an algometer before and after the laser treatments. RESULTS: The active GaAlAs low-level laser group showed significant changes in pressure-pain threshold and visual analog scale on tenderness at 3 kg (p<0.05). The placebo GaAlAs low-level laser group showed no significant changes in either pressure-pain threshold or visual analog scale on tenderness at 3 kg (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: An immediate effect was observed in pressure-pain threshold and visual analog scale on tenderness at 3 kg following a 2-minute application ($857.14J/cm^2$) of a 975-nm, 500-mW GaAlAs low-level laser to the myofascial trigger point of the dominant upper trapezius muscle in patients with rounded shoulder posture.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.49-61
• /
• 2005

Summary of Background Data: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common painful muscle disorder caused by trigger points occurring in myofascial. MPS is a major cause of chronical pain and is the subject of further clinical examination. Purpose: To uncover effective intramuscular stimulation therapy (IMS), the patients' actively participation stretching exercise and stabilizing around shoulder girdle where trigger point provoking myofascial pain syndrome in usually occurred. Methods: 45 myofascial pain syndrome patients were randomly chosen and divided into 3 groups. The first group (G1) received only IMS therapy, The second group (G2) had both IMS and active stretching exercises administered and the final group (G3) was given IMS therapy and stabilizing exercises. Therapy intervention was given for 3 weeks, 3 times a week and then only stretching exercise for the second group and stabilizing exercise for the third group was given for another 3 weeks. The visual analogue scale was dine before the experiment, 3 weeks after the experiment and 6weeks after the experiment to measure subjective degrees of pain and pressure pain threshold to measure sensitivity improvement of trigger point and functional ability questionnaire to measure daily life performance. Results: There were no significant changes after 3 weeks but after 6 weeks, between GI and G2 and between G1 and G3 showed significant change of pain, pressure pain threshold and daily life performance. There were significant improvement of the measurement of degrees of pain, pressure pain threshold and improvement of daily life performance at different times for G1 showed change 3 weeks after the experiment, but there were no changes 6 weeks after the experiment. There were significant improvement of the measurement at different times for G2 and G3 showed change 3 weeks after the experiment and 6 weeks after the experiment. Conclusions: IMS therapy proved to be effective in inactivation of trigger points of the myofascial pain syndrome patients and stretching and stabilizing exercises beside it keep remedial value longer by improvement of pain and dysfunction that occurred by the trigger point.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.1897-1902
• /
• 2019

Background: Tension-type headaches, which make up the highest proportion of headaches, are prone to develop into chronic tension-type headaches (CTTH). The characteristic of CTTH in patients is that the active myofascial trigger point (ATrP) which causes pain in the muscles of the back of the head is increased, compared to the normal headache and moves the head position forward. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of myofascial release (MFR) and posture correction in effectively improving neck function and sleep quality in the symptoms of CTTH patients. Design: Observer-blind study Methods: To reduce ATrP, MFR was applied and exercise was also applied to correct posture. The subjects of this study were 48 individuals randomly divided into three groups; The MFR group using the MFR technique; The MFR with exercise group subject to both the MFR technique and forward head position correction exercises (MFREx), and the control group. MFR and MFREx groups were given the relevant interventions twice a week for four consecutive weeks, and went through the number ATrPs, range of motion (ROM) of neck, Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after the intervention. A physical therapist, who was fully familiar with the measuring methods of the equipment, was the measurer and not aware of the target's condition was blinded to take measurements only before and after intervention. Results: There was a significant improvement in the ATrP, Neck ROM, NDI and PSQI in the group of patients to whom the MFR technique and MFREx were applied. MFREx was more effective in increasing neck mobility. Conclusions: According to this study, the application of MFR is effective in improving neck movement and sleep quality in chronic tension headache patients.

• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2018

As the online space becomes more active, interest in protecting personal information is increasing. From this point of view, it is important to prevent personal information from being leaked in advance. As a precaution, it is suggested that users change their password periodically to protect their personal information effectively. Currently, various online services provide a request message that prompts users to periodically change their password. These messages are expressed as positive-centric or negative-centric. This message can be seen as a powerful way to trigger users' behavior. In this context, this study suggests that message framing type can be applied to the password change request message, and to investigate the difference between the positive-centric message and the negative-centric message. In addition, this study concluded that the effect of message type may be different depending on the degree of psychological ownership of the individual on the online service. As a result, users with high psychological ownership in online service were more effective when positive-centric message was presented than negative-centric message. On the other hand, users with low psychological ownership in online service were more effective when negative-centric message was presented than positive-centric message.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.345-351
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this double-blind study was to evaluate clinical effects of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection on myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) involving upper trapezius and compare with those of lidocaine injection. 21 patients presenting with active TrP1 and/or TrP2 in the upper trapezius over 6 months were selected for this study. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups; one group injected with BTX-A (15 unit of $Botox^{(R)}$ / 0.3 ml per trigger point (TrP)) and the other group injected with 0.5% lidocaine (0.3 ml /TrP). The clinical effects were evaluated by VAS and PPT at baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after treatment. BTX-A group showed persistent decrease of VAS values and increase of PPT values following treatment. While there was no significant difference in VAS values between BTX-A and lidocaine groups (p=0.347), there was significant difference in PPT values after treatment between two groups (p=0.000). The subjects received BTX-A showed noticeable improvement in PPT values after treatment, suggesting more reliable effect of BTX-A injection compared with lidocaine injection. The results of this study support that the direct injection of BTX-A to a TrP is an effective and safe treatment for MPS involving upper trapezius.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.513-528
• /
• 2002

This paper aims to explore the recent economic restructuring and regional disparity after the IMF crisis in Korea in terms of uneven regional development. The so-called IMF crisis brought about changing Korean society and economy greatly. Although the Korean economy has been almost completely recovered from the IMF crisis, some structural problems remain. In particular, regional disparity has been deepening in the process of economic restructuring for overcoming the IMF crisis. While the Seoul metropolitan area including Kyunggi province has recovered from the crisis relatively fast and industrial production in the area has been kept active, the productive activities of local areas such as Pusan, Taegu, Kwanju and Ulsan province have shrunk significantly. On the contrary, the economic situation of Taejun province is not so bad in comparison with other local areas. The recent deepening of regional disparity after the IMF crisis can be seen as a process of economic restructuring to overcome the crisis. However, it is necessary to point out that production system has already been gradually transformed from Fordism toward post-Fordism since the early 1990s. In this context I argue that the IMF crisis, as an accelerating trigger of such spatial reconfiguration, has deepen regional disparity.