Title : Effectiveness of Integrated Neuromuscular Inhibition Technique on Pain Pressure Threshold, Cervical Range of Motion and Functionality in Patients with Upper Trapezius Trigger Points: An Experimental Study

Trapezitis is defined as inflammation of trapezius muscle. The upper trapezius muscle is designated as postural muscle and it is highly susceptible to over use. The pain is present even during rest and is aggravated by activity; it may be referred to other area from the site of primary inflammation.

The Integrated Neuromuscular Inhibition Technique (INIT) is a manual therapy approach used in physiotherapy to manage muscle pain, tightness, and dysfunction, particularly involving myofascial trigger points. It combines three soft tissue techniques: Ischemic Compression , Muscle Energy Technique (MET), and Strain-Counterstrain (SCS). TPR involves applying pressure to deactivate painful trigger points; MET uses the patient’s voluntary muscle contractions against resistance to relax and lengthen tight muscles; and SCS is a passive technique that places the muscle in a position of comfort to reduce spasm and reset muscle spindle activity. The purpose of the study is to check the effect of this techniques in patients with upper trapezius trigger points and to study its effectiveness on PPT, Cervical ROM and functionality in  the patients with Upper Trapezius Trigger points.

Patients with Upper Trapezius Trigger points of age 18 to 35years, both males and females, Presence of active MTrPs identifiable by spot tenderness in a taut, muscular band.  The patient will be screened on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria and their demographic data will be taken by an assessment Performa. Prior to the commencement of the study, detailed procedure of the study will be explained to the patients and assigned informed consent form will be taken from them. Then the patient will be randomly assigned to a 4-week intervention protocol and allocated randomly to Group A and Group B.  Group A = Integrated Neuromuscular Inhibition Technique (INIT) + Conventional treatment (total duration – 20 mins)  In INIT includes 3 techniques i.e Ischemic compression, Positional release technique and Muscle energy technique. GroupB = Control group. Conventional treatment (total duration-10 mins)

SPSS Version 29.0 will be used for statistical analysis and Microsoft Excel 2019 will be used for tabulation and graphical presentation of data. Based on the normality of distribution, either parametric/non parametric test will be used, for analysis of intergroup and intragroup differences.