Journal Critique on Pain 1

Running Head: JOURNAL CRITIQUE ON PAIN

Journal Critique on Pain

[name of the writer]

[name of the institution ]

[name of the Professor]

[Course]

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Journal Critique on Pain

What a Nurse Can Do without Doctor’s Help for a Patient Experiencing Pain

Nurses, traditionally have been neglected for the important role they play in treatment and

administration of drugs and therapies whereas, their role as care-takers is applauded by many.

Few people realize that nurses play an equally important role during their treatments as a

qualified doctor do. It is just a degree of confidence, over the abilities and skills of nurses,

that is required to increase their motivation and to provide them with a necessary morale

booster.

Summary of the Article - Da Silva, G. D.; Lorenzi-Filho, M.S. G.; Lage, L. V. (2007). Effects

of Yoga and the Addition of Tui Na in Patients with Fibromyalgia. The Journal of Alternative

and Complementary Medicine. Volume 13, Number 10, p. 1107–1113. © Mary Ann Liebert,

Inc.

It is a study focused to check if techniques of yoga with and without the addition of Tui Na

may decrease the feeling of pain and the negative effects of fibromyalgia (FMS) on a

patients’ daily life. For this purpose forty women, suffering from FMS, were taken as a

sample. They were divided into two groups, Relaxing Yoga (RY) and Relaxing Yoga plus

Touch (RYT). For eight sessions a week they were made to do stretching, breathing, and

relaxing yogic techniques. RYT patients were further submitted to manipulative techniques of

Tui Na.

After the treatment results were gathered from the participants on the basis of Fibromyalgia

Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), pain level at the 18 FMS tender points and a verbal comparison

of pain assessed before treatment and on the follow-up. The visual analog scale (VAS) for

pain was also assessed before and after each session and on the follow-up.
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Seventeen (17) RYT and 16 RY patients participated in the study till its completion. Both RY

and RYT groups showed improvement in the FIQ and VAS scores, which decreased on all

sessions. The RYT group showed lower VAS and verbal scores for pain on the eighth

session, but this difference was not maintained on the follow-up. On the other hand, RY VAS

and verbal scores were significantly lower just on the follow-up.

These study results showed that yogic techniques are valid therapeutic methods for FMS.

Touch addition yielded greater improvement during the treatment. Over time, however, RY

patients reported less pain than RYT. These results suggest that a passive therapy may

possibly decrease control over FMS symptoms.

Personal Views about the Article

It is an initial level study. The sample size taken was too small and even that sample failed to

complete the whole study (out of 40 only 33 completed the study), hence the results obtained

can not be generalized to a population. Moreover a focus on the long term effectiveness of

the therapy was not there. More studies are needed on the topic and especially on the

effectiveness of Tui Na as a remedial measure for a bigger population. Further research is

also needed in gauging the improvement or the otherwise of the Yoga interventions when

coupled with the techniques of Tui Na.

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Reference

Da Silva, G. D.; Lorenzi-Filho, M.S. G.; Lage, L. V. (2007). Effects of Yoga and the

Addition of Tui Na in Patients with Fibromyalgia. The Journal of Alternative and

Complementary Medicine. Volume 13, Number 10, p. 1107–1113. © Mary Ann

Liebert, Inc.