The effects of the spray stretch and sustained pressure techniques for managing trigger points in the upper part of the trapezius muscle

Abstract Introduction: Among the interventions used to manage trigger points in the upper part of the trapezius muscle, spraystretch and sustained pressure interventions are relatively poorly studied. This aim of this study was to determine the ef-fects of the spray stretch and sustained pressure for the management of trigger points in the upper part of the trapeziusmuscle.Material and methods: A randomized clinical trial was perfofmed including 54 patients. The participants were ran-domly allocated into two treatment groups via the sealed envelope method. Group A received the spray stretch techniquewith conventional treatment while group B received the sustained pressure technique with conventional treatment. Bothgroups received six treatment sessions and were evaluated at baseline and after two weeks by pain pressure algometer,visual analogue scale, neck disability index, goniometer, and hospital anxiety depression scale.Results: Group B showed significantly more improvement in pain threshold (p < 0.05) than group A, while neckdisability points were significantly decreased in Group A (p < 0.05) than group B. Group A showed more improvementin neck ranges (p < 0.05) than group B. Both groups showed significant improvements in anxiety and depression (p