Journal of Pain Research (Feb 2022)

Effect of Tai Chi Quan on the Pressure Pain Thresholds of Lower Back Muscles in Healthy Women

  • Wang R,
  • Chang XL,
  • Kiartivich S,
  • Wang XQ

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 403 – 412

Abstract

Read online

Rui Wang,1 Xiao-Long Chang,2 Suparata Kiartivich,1 Xue-Qiang Wang1,3 1Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai Shangti Orthopaedic Hospital, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xue-Qiang WangDepartment of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, 399 Changhai Road, Shanghai, 200438, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 186 0161 2741, Email [email protected]: Although studies on the improvement of pain after exercise are increasingly diverse, whether Tai Chi Quan can improve the pressure pain thresholds remains unknown. This study was to observe the effect of Tai Chi Quan on the pressure pain thresholds of lower back muscles in healthy women.Patients and Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial. Sixty healthy women aged 18– 40 years were randomly assigned to Tai Chi group or control group. The Tai Chi group received 40-minute practice, and the control group received 5-minute sham Tai Chi Quan practice and 35-minute rest. The pressure pain thresholds of the longissimus thoracis, iliocostalis lumborum, multifidus muscle, quadratus lumborum, gluteus medius and supraspinous ligament were assessed before and immediately after intervention.Results: The pressure pain thresholds of test points in the Tai Chi group showed substantial improvements after exercise, whereas those in the control group did not improve. Overall, the pressure pain thresholds in the Tai Chi group significantly increased compared with the control group (longissimus thoracis: p = 0.000, iliocostalis lumborum: p = 0.000, multifidus muscle: p = 0.000, quadratus lumborum: p = 0.012, gluteus medius: p = 0.000 and supraspinous ligament: p = 0.000).Conclusion: Forty minutes of Tai Chi Quan exercise remarkably increased the pressure pain thresholds of lower back muscles in healthy women, and thresholds at by an these points increased average of 17.2%.Keywords: complementary and alternative medicine, pain thresholds, chronic pain, rehabilitation

Keywords