NCT02314507

Gua Sha for Chronic Low Back Pain in Elderly

Effects of Gua Sha and Hot Pack for Relieving Chronic Low Back Pain in Elderly: A Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether Gua sha is an effective modality for relieving chronic low back pain specifically in the aged population by comparing the baseline measures of pain intensity, self-perceived disability, back range of motion, back local muscle stiffness, depression, sleeping quality, quality of life, biomarkers measurement, and analgesic intake on days 1 and 7 after a single session of Gua sha treatment. In addition, the investigators are going to compare between Gua sha and hot pack treatments for the above parameters.

Detailed description

Subjects will be randomized to receive firstly either one of the treatment arms, and then crossed over to receive another arm after 30 days washing out period. It is expected that Gua sha is 1) effective in reducing the intensity of chronic low back pain in the elderly; 2) effective in helping one or more outcome measures in this study and 3) more effective on relieving the low back pain than hot pack in terms of the outcome measures in this study.

Conditions

• Back Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Gua sha	A smooth, rounded-edged Gua sha tool will be press-stroked into the flesh enough to contact the fascial layer start at the midline of the subject's back. A stroke line is typically 4 to 6 inches long. Press-stroking will be repeated in one direction until the petechiae raises on that stroke line, typically 8 to 12 strokes. Gua sha will then be continued at the next stroke line directly adjacent to the one before, until the area covered the lower one third of the back.
OTHER	Hot pack	A hydrocollator pack will be used and it will be stored at 42-43oC in the hydrocollator. 6 layers of towel will be used to cover the hydrocollator pack when applying to the back of the subjects.

Timeline

• Start date: 2014-07-01
• Primary completion: 2014-12-01
• Completion: 2014-12-01
• First posted: 2014-12-11
• Last updated: 2015-03-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong