Goniometer

Alireza Askari et al. (2024) · Frontiers in pharmacology

This randomized trial with 86 completing patients compared a traditional Persian medicine remedy — basil leaf oil blended with sesame oil — against a standard drugstore treatment, diclofenac gel, for knee osteoarthritis pain. Basil has been recommended for joint pain in Persian medical texts since Avicenna and Rhazes, roughly a thousand years ago, and this was the first study to directly test it head-to-head against a modern pharmaceutical. One hundred adults with knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to rub either the basil-sesame oil blend or 1% diclofenac gel onto their knees three times a day for 4 weeks; everyone could also take an as-needed pain pill if they needed more relief. Researchers tracked pain and stiffness using a standard osteoarthritis questionnaire (WOMAC), a 0-100 pain scale, how far patients could bend their knee, and how fast they could walk. Both treatments worked about equally well: there was no meaningful difference between the herbal oil and the diclofenac gel on any measure at 2 or 4 weeks, and both groups showed significant improvement in pain, stiffness and function compared to when they started. One interesting difference: people using diclofenac gel needed noticeably more rescue pain medication by the fourth week, while basil-oil users' need for extra medication stayed about the same — a pattern that could suggest diclofenac's effect wearing off faster. Importantly, nobody using the basil oil reported any side effects at all. These findings suggest this centuries-old herbal remedy may relieve knee osteoarthritis pain about as well as a standard anti-inflammatory gel, with an excellent safety record. That said, there was no "fake treatment" (placebo) group, so it's not fully clear how much of the improvement came from the oils themselves versus the natural ups and downs of the condition, and because sesame oil may have its own joint-protecting effects, the specific contribution of basil can't be pinned down. Larger studies with a placebo group and longer follow-up are needed before this becomes a routine recommendation.

Beyza Nur Erayata et al. (2025) · PloS one

This single-blind randomized controlled trial with 24 adults recovering from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction explored whether percussion massage therapy (PMT) — handheld devices that deliver rapid, rhythmic vibration pulses to muscle, sometimes called massage guns — adds benefit when combined with a structured post-surgical exercise program. ACL reconstruction requires months of rehabilitation focused on restoring knee range of motion, strength, and proprioception (the body's sense of joint position, tested here as joint position sense), while managing pain that can otherwise limit progress. PMT has mostly been studied in healthy athletes; this trial asked whether it also helps people recovering from surgery. Twenty-four participants aged 18-40, all within eight weeks of hamstring-autograft ACL reconstruction, were randomly split into two equal groups of 12. Both groups followed the same progressive, three-phase neuromuscular exercise program, five days a week for six weeks (30 sessions total). The PMT group also received five minutes of percussion massage per muscle group (quadriceps, hamstrings) with a Hypervolt device at 40 Hz before each session. Researchers measured pain (Visual Analog Scale), knee function (WOMAC), balance (Berg Balance Scale), quality of life (SF-36), range of motion, joint position sense, and muscle thickness by ultrasound, before and after the six weeks. Both groups improved significantly across every outcome after six weeks (p<0.001), confirming that structured exercise alone works well after ACL reconstruction. But adding PMT produced significantly larger gains in several key areas: resting pain dropped further (5.75 versus 4.17 points on a 0-10 scale, p=0.004), activity pain dropped further (6.92 versus 5.50 points, p=0.003), knee function scores improved more (71.7 versus 46.1 points on WOMAC, p=0.002 — a large effect, Cohen's d=1.41), balance improved more (24.7 versus 15.5 points on the Berg scale, p=0.040), and knee-bending range of motion gained more (43.1 versus 30.2 degrees, p=0.048). Joint position sense at 60 degrees also improved more with PMT (p=0.023), though at 30 degrees the two groups were statistically similar. Muscle thickness gains and most quality-of-life measures were comparable between groups, suggesting PMT's edge lies mainly in pain relief, function, balance, and motion rather than muscle bulk. For people recovering from ACL surgery, these results suggest a few minutes of percussion massage before each exercise session may meaningfully speed up pain relief, functional recovery, and balance, with no adverse events reported. The trial is small (12 people per group) and single-site, the groups started with somewhat different baseline pain and muscle measurements, and there was no long-term follow-up, so the durability of these gains beyond six weeks is unknown. Larger trials testing different PMT frequencies and durations are needed before this becomes a standard rehabilitation recommendation.

Taewoo Kang et al. (2022) · Medicine

This single-blind randomized controlled trial with 41 adults explored two ways of treating chronic neck pain (CNP) -- pain lasting more than three months, often traced to a forward head posture that overloads the cervical spine. The researchers focused on the scapulothoracic region, the muscles connecting the shoulder blade to the rib cage and spine, because weakness in the middle and lower trapezius combined with tightness in the upper trapezius creates a muscle imbalance that drives neck pain and reduced neck mobility. One group performed a resistance exercise program targeting the weakened muscles directly; the other received trapezius massage targeting the tight ones, and both were compared head-to-head over four weeks. Adults aged 29 to 66 (mean 47.9, 22 men, 19 women) with confirmed chronic neck pain were split into a resistance-exercise group (21 people) and a massage group (20 people) at a South Korean clinic, training five days a week for four weeks. The exercise group used elastic bands for eight movements -- chin tucks, rows, and scapular retraction among them -- building from 10-15 up to 15-20 repetitions per set. The massage group received a standardized 20-minute trapezius massage combining myofascial release, trigger-point work, and friction techniques. Pain, neck motion, muscle tone, disability, and quality of life were all measured. Both approaches worked: pain, disability, and quality-of-life scores improved significantly within each group (p<.05 throughout). But head-to-head, resistance exercise pulled ahead on several measures. Pain dropped further with exercise (VAS change 2.67 vs. 2.30 points, p=.02), and disability scores on the Neck Disability Index fell more as well (p=.04). Quality of life improved more on both the physical (p=.04) and mental (p<.001) subscales. Muscle tone and stiffness in the upper trapezius -- the very muscle massage directly targets -- actually decreased more in the exercise group (p=.01 to .03), suggesting that strengthening the weakened muscles around it relieved tension more effectively than massaging the tight muscle itself. Cervical rotation, often the most functionally limited movement in this condition, also improved more with exercise (p<.001 to .02). Flexion, extension, and side-bending improved to a similar degree in both groups, with no meaningful difference in muscle elasticity. For people managing chronic neck pain, a structured resistance program targeting the shoulder-blade stabilizers may offer more relief than massage alone, particularly for pain, disability, quality of life, and neck rotation -- and it requires only elastic bands, making home practice feasible. The trial did not track adverse events or follow participants beyond the 4-week program, so how long the gains last is unknown. It also did not directly measure whether the weakened muscles actually got stronger, so the exact mechanism behind the improvement is inferred rather than proven. Larger studies with longer follow-up periods are needed.