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Related Concept Videos

Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses01:31

Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses

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Skeletal muscle relaxants are used to relax muscle tone and alleviate painful muscle contractions. However, the choice of skeletal muscle relaxants depends on the duration of the surgical procedure in order to minimize potential side effects. Skeletal muscle relaxants like neuromuscular blocking agents [NMBAs] are commonly employed as adjuvants alongside general anesthetics in clinical settings. NMBAs are also used to maintain controlled ventilation during surgery of the larynx or pharynx...
482
Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses01:24

Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses

686
Centrally acting muscle relaxants reduce muscle tone and tension by interfering with the postsynaptic reflexes in the central nervous system.
Centrally acting drugs are classified into spasmolytic and antispasmodic drugs. Spasmolytic drugs such as baclofen, diazepam, and tizanidine inhibit spinal motor neurons and decrease muscle tone. Spasmolytic drugs are administered for severe and chronic spasms due to multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, and spinal cord and muscle injuries. However,...
686
Classification of Skeletal Muscle Relaxants01:28

Classification of Skeletal Muscle Relaxants

2.5K
Skeletal muscle relaxants are a group of drugs that can reduce muscle stiffness and induce temporary paralysis to relieve pain. These agents can act centrally to reduce muscle tone or spasms in painful conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or spinal injuries; they are called antispasmodics or spasmolytics.
Peripherally acting skeletal muscle relaxants interfere with the neurotransmission at the neuromuscular end plate to induce paralysis during...
2.5K
Peripherally and Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxants: A Comparison01:09

Peripherally and Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxants: A Comparison

3.3K
Skeletal muscle relaxants can target the central nervous system [CNS] to reduce muscle tension or act directly at the neuromuscular junction to induce temporary paralysis. These two classes of muscle relaxants are called centrally acting muscle relaxants and peripherally acting muscle relaxants. They differ in their action, mechanism, administration route, and clinical uses.
Centrally acting muscle relaxants can be further divided into spasmolytic and antispasmodic drugs. Spasmolytic...
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Directly Acting Muscle Relaxants: Dantrolene and Botulinum Toxin01:26

Directly Acting Muscle Relaxants: Dantrolene and Botulinum Toxin

680
Directly acting muscle relaxants like dantrolene and botulinum toxin (BoNT) have distinct mechanisms and applications. Dantrolene, a hydantoin derivative, acts on the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) in skeletal muscle cells. RYR1 are calcium channels present at the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane. In response to excitation, they release calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to the cytosol. Calcium promotes actin-myosin-mediated contraction of muscles.
The binding of dantrolene to the RYR1...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Chuzhen Therapy as a Non-Invasive Traditional Chinese Therapy for Neck Pain
04:24

Chuzhen Therapy as a Non-Invasive Traditional Chinese Therapy for Neck Pain

Published on: June 6, 2025

123

Massage for neck pain.

Anita R Gross1,2, Haejung Lee3, Jeanette Ezzo4

  • 1Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|February 28, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Massage offers little to no significant improvement for chronic neck pain compared to placebo, with low-certainty evidence. Higher doses of massage may show some benefit, but more rigorous trials are needed.

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Area of Science:

  • Clinical research
  • Evidence-based medicine
  • Pain management

Background:

  • Neck pain is a common condition with massage frequently used for relief.
  • The effectiveness of massage for neck pain, particularly compared to placebo or sham interventions, requires clarification.

Approach:

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis of 33 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1994 participants.
  • Included studies compared massage to placebo, no treatment, or as an adjuvant therapy for acute to chronic neck pain.
  • Assessed benefits and harms, focusing on pain, function, quality of life, and adverse events, with a critical evaluation of study bias.

Key Points:

  • Low-certainty evidence suggests massage provides little to no difference in pain, function, or quality of life for subacute-chronic neck pain compared to placebo up to 12 weeks.
  • A higher dose of massage (≥ 8 sessions over 4 weeks) may offer a clinically important benefit.
  • Significant study limitations include common selection and detection biases, and inadequate reporting of adverse events.

Conclusions:

  • The overall contribution of massage to neck pain management remains uncertain due to predominantly low-certainty evidence.
  • Further large-scale, well-designed trials with adequate dosing and blinding are necessary to establish massage efficacy.
  • Current evidence indicates minimal to no benefit over placebo for most outcomes, highlighting the need for improved research standards.