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Thiele massage as a therapeutic option for women with chronic pelvic pain caused by tenderness of pelvic floor muscles
Author(s) -
De Souza Montenegro Mary Lourdes Lima,
MateusVasconcelos Elaine Cristine,
Candido dos Reis Francisco José,
Rosa e Silva Júlio César,
Nogueira Antonio Alberto,
Poli Neto Omero Benedicto
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2009.01202.x
Subject(s) - tenderness , medicine , massage , pelvic floor , visual analogue scale , pelvic pain , physical therapy , pelvic floor muscle , surgery , alternative medicine , pathology
Aims and objectives Musculoskeletal system has been found to be involved in genesis and perpetuation of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and has strong evidences that up to 80% of women with CPP present dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system. In this study, we report a series of women with CPP caused by tenderness of pelvic floor muscles successfully treated with Thiele massage. Methods Were included in this study six women with CPP caused by tenderness of the levator ani muscle that underwent transvaginal massage using the Thiele technique, over a period of 5 minutes repeated once a week for 4 weeks. After 1 month, the women returned for follow‐up. Results The median tenderness score for the six women evaluated was 3 at the first evaluation and 0 after 1 month of follow‐up (P < 0.01). The mean Visual Analogue Scale and McGill Pain Index scores were 8.1 and 34, respectively, at the first evaluation, and 1.5 and 16.6 at follow‐up (P < 0.01). Conclusion Thiele massage appears to be very helpful for women with CPP caused by tenderness of the levator ani muscle. However, these results are preliminary and a larger number of women are necessary to obtain more conclusive results.