Vibration Therapy - research

Vibratory stimulation for alleviation of chronic pain

The pain relieving effect of vibratory stimulation was studied in 731 patients suffering from acute pain (135 patients) or chronic pain (596 patients). Most of the patients had previously undergone treatments of various kinds without sufficient pain relief. The effect of vibratory stimulation was assessed before, during and after stimulation using different rating scales

The majority of patients reported reduction of pain during vibratory stimulation. In most patients suffering from musculoskeletal pain the best pain reducing effect was obtained when the vibratory stimulation was applied with moderate pressure at a frequency of 50-150 Hz. To obtain a maximal duration of pain relief the stimulation had to be applied for 30-45 minutes.

Many of the patients experienced pain relief lasting for more than 3 hours. In many patients the pain relief lasted for 12 hours or more. 82% of the patients experienced a relief of pain; 47% of the patients experienced a reduction of pain.

Acta Physiol Scand Suppl. 1983;523:1-51.