OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to observe the therapeutic effects of dredging hand Yang meridian with deep tissue massage combined with neck movement on stiff-neck syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a randomized controlled trial. The consecutive patients with the stiff-neck syndrome were randomly allocated into the intervention group and patch group (1:1) according to the random number table. The intervention group was treated with dredging hand Yang meridian with deep tissue massage combined with neck movement once a day for 3 days, while the patch group therapy was treated with a 3-patch therapy and every patch included 24-h patch and 24-h patch-free. A needle electromyogram would be exerted if the patients were at their willingness in different stages. The pain of patients was assessed by Visual Analog Scale in the two groups at every 24 h time point. RESULTS: Finally, 212 patients completed the trial, 106 in each group. The curative rate in the intervention group was higher than in the patch group (99.06% versus 84.91%, x2 = 0.890, p < 0.01). Repeated measures of the general linear model showed a significant difference in pain score within the subject-factors (factor of time F = 4548.577, p < 0.001; factor of time-group F = 490.034, p < 0.001). There was a significant difference between groups regarding pain score (F = 3016.315, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Dredging hand Yang meridian with deep tissue massage combined with neck movement is better than patch therapy in stiff-neck syndrome, with a shorter duration and instant effects.

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