Comparison of Muscle Energy Technique and Oscillating Energy Manual Therapy in Chronic Lateral Epicondylitis

Overview

Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a painful musculoskeletal condition caused by overuse. The condition is also called tennis elbow because it affects 50% of tennis players, notably beginners learning the one-handed backhand. Nonetheless, only 10% of all patients with LE play tennis. Lateral Epicondylitis (LE) or tennis elbow affects about 1-3% of general population. Muscle energy technique was developed by osteopathic physician, Fred Mitchell, Sr. It was refined and systematized by Fred Mitchell, Jr., and has continued to evolve with contributions from many individuals.

Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a painful musculoskeletal condition caused by overuse. The condition is also called tennis elbow because it affects 50% of tennis players, notably beginners learning the one-handed backhand. Nonetheless, only 10% of all patients with LE play tennis. Lateral Epicondylitis (LE) or tennis elbow affects about 1-3% of general population. patients with Lateral Epicondylitis complains of pain, functional difficulty affecting activities of daily living related to wrist and forearm movements . The grip strength is affected due to voluntary decline of effort to avoid pain and due to wasting of affecting muscles seen in long standing conditions. The symptoms exacerbate with stressful activities in overuse syndromes but pain may persist even at rest as the condition progress. Muscle energy technique was developed by osteopathic physician, Fred Mitchell, Sr. It was refined and systematized by Fred Mitchell, Jr., and has continued to evolve with contributions from many individuals. Muscle energy technique (MET) is used by practitioners from different professions and has been advocated for the treatment of shortened muscles, weakened muscles, restricted joints, and lymphatic drainage. In addition to using muscle effort to mobilize joints and tissues, MET is considered by some to be a biomechanics-based analytic diagnostic system that uses precise physical diagnosis evaluation procedures to identify and qualify articular range of motion restriction. MET are defined as a manual treatment in which a patient produces a contraction in a precisely controlled position and direction against a counterforce applied by a manual therapist. MET have been also used in asymptomatic subjects in order to increase mobility. There is varying evidence that when a joint has a functional limitation, the application of a MET can increase its Range of Motion. A comparative study concluded that oscillating energy manual therapy and muscle energy technique had shown the improvement in Numeric Rating Scale, grip strength and PRTEE in lateral epicondylitis subjects, but more significant improvement was observed in the subjects who were treated with muscle energy technique than oscillating energy manual therapy.