| Sumario: | Background: Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a highly prevalent condition, reported in 85% of patients with chronic pain complaints, and disproportionately affects women (64.3%) compared to men (35.7%). To evaluate treatment efficacy for MPS, a pre-post experimental comparative study was conducted, recruiting 30 subjects diagnosed with myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) who were randomly divided into two groups. Subjects received 12 treatment sessions on alternate days. The Ultrasound group (Group A) was treated with a continuous mode for 5-7 minutes, while the Myofascial Release group (Group B) received manual therapy over the trigger points until the therapist noted a reduction in tissue resistance. Outcome measures used were the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)in terms of pain and Palpable Muscle Spasm Degree (PMSD) in terms of spasm. Aim of the Study: To compare the efficacy of Therapeutic Ultrasound versus Myofascial release in reducing pain and spasm associated with Myofascial Pain Syndrome over the trigger point region. Materials and Methods: This study employed ultrasound application and myofascial release, and subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. Outcome measures used were the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) subjectively in terms of pain and the Palpable Muscle Spasm Degree (PMSD) objectively in terms of spasm. Key Results: The pre-mean VAS of Group A was 7.73±0.704, and the post-mean VAS was 2.07±0.594. The pre-mean PMSD was 1.87±0.576, and the post-mean PMSD was 1.00±0.926. For Group B, the pre-mean VAS was 8.33±0.816, and the post-mean VAS was 2.40±0.910. The pre-mean PMSD was 2.13±0.640, and the post-mean PMSD was 0.600±0.910. The "P" value was <0.001. A weekly comparison of the mean VAS level in both groups was 4.60±0.138, with a "P" value of <0.001, which showed significant improvement across all 12 sessions (4 weeks). Conclusion: This study statistically validated that both Therapeutic Ultrasound and hands-on manual therapy (Myofascial Release) were equally effective in reducing pain and spasm among the student population with active MTrPs. However, the clinical assessment suggested that Myofascial Release might be superior, offering more effective pain relief and spasm reduction within a shorter duration, in addition to being cost-effective, non-invasive, and providing immediate symptomatic relief.
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