OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to compare the efficacies of different therapeutic transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) types and placebo TENS on pain syndrome in cervical myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and to determine the superior method. METHODS: Patients recruited in the study were randomized into four groups. Group 1 was treated with a conventional TENS with a frequency of 100 Hz, 40 mus duration, low amplitude; group 2 with an acupuncture-like TENS with a frequency of 4 Hz, 250 mus duration, high amplitude; group 3 with burst TENS with high (100 Hz) and low (2 Hz) frequency, 40 mus and high amplitude. Group 4 was treated with an electrical stimulation until the patient felt it. Then the electrical current was interrupted, but the patient was told the current was proceeding and he/she did not feel it any more since he/she had gotten used to it. All groups were treated with a total of 10 therapies with 30-minute sessions three times a week. Patients were assessed with a visual analog scale and the bodily pain subscale of the Short Form Health Survey-36 scale before and after treatment. RESULTS: Eighty patients participated in the study. Before and after treatment, intra-groups and inter-groups evaluations of all groups showed that there was no significant progression in both scales (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, it was observed that none of the TENS types was superior to another or placebo. As a result of this outcome, it was thought that TENS alone has no role in cervical MPS therapy.
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