Abstract
M.Tech. (Chiropractic)
Health professionals, while differentiated in their philosophies and choice of practice, still endeavour to expand the choice of effective and trustworthy techniques that can be applied to the individual needs of a patient. Therapeutic ultrasound is one such treatment that is used by many health practitioners.
Ultrasound is one of the complementary treatments used to treat an acute cervical facet syndrome. Thermal ultrasound has the ability to decrease pain, stiffness, muscle spasm and inflammation of the tissue surrounding an acute cervical facet (Wyatt, 2004 and Reid, 1992). The current ultrasound treatment regimens for acute cervical facet syndromes are time consuming, in that they require a series of ultrasound treatments (Wyatt, 2004). Methods that could improve ultrasound treatment regimens in the treatment of acute cervical facets, by decreasing the amount of ultrasound treatments required and by increasing the effectiveness of the treatment would be beneficial.
This research aims to test, in a clinical environment, the efficacy of MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) incorporated into ultrasound gel used with ultrasound in the treatment of an acute cervical facet syndrome.
Participants were recruited from the University of Johannesburg Chiropractic Day Clinic. They were eligible to participate in the study once they met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were recruited by means of word of mouth as well as with the use of advertisements that were placed around the respective campuses of the University of Johannesburg.
Thirty participants who presented with an acute cervical facet syndrome, volunteered for this comparative study. The study was double blinded, in which neither the researcher nor the participants knew which bottle contained the MSM incorporated into ultrasound gel or the standard ultrasound gel. It was only after the trials were completed that it was made know that group A received the MSM incorporated into ultrasound and group B the standard ultrasound. Group A received ultrasound treatment utilising MSM incorporated into ultrasound gel causing phonophoresis of the product’s ions, over the acute facets in the cervical spine. Group B received ultrasound treatment, using regular ultrasound gel, over the acute facets in the cervical spine.