Management of myofascial pain by therapeutic ultrasound and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: A comparative study

OBJECTIVE: The present comparative study was aimed to determine the effectiveness of Th US and TENS in the management of myofascial pain in TMD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present randomized comparative study was on 90 patients who were further assigned in three different groups each having 30 patients; Group I was healthy control patients, Group II was receiving Th US therapy, and Group III was receiving TENS therapy. All the 90 patients were further evaluated for maximum inter incisor subjective evaluation regarding muscle pain, impediment to daily life, massage impression on visual analog scale (VAS) scale, and intensity and duration used in Th US massage. RESULTS: The masseter muscle thickness in control group was 12.00 (standard deviation [SD] ±1.1) mm when compared with TMD patient of 13.00 (SD ± 1.1) mm before treatment. Statistical significant findings on VAS score of muscle pain, impediment to daily life, and massage impression were observed in Th US. After treatment, the anechoic areas disappeared or were reduced in Th US group by 95.6% and in TENS by 74.4%. CONCLUSION: Th US appeared to be subjectively better which was related to VAS score of massage impression, muscle pain, and impediment to daily life after treatment as well as sonographically related to existence of anechoic areas.