*D.A.V. Institute of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation, Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
**Department of Physiotherapy, Lovely School of Applied Medical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India
Proposed mechanism for pain in tennis elbow as cited by Mulligan (1995) is that a minor positional fault of joint may occur following an injury or strain, resulting in movement restriction or pain. Paungmali A (2003) concluded that Mobilization with Movement (MWM) for lateral epicondyalgia is capable of producing concurrent hypoalgesic effects and altering CNS function.
To investigate the effects of MWM and Cyriax physiotherapy and to compare these techniques in reducing pain and improving grip strength in patients with lateral epicondyalgia.
Sixty subjects with a history and examination results consistent with lateral epicondyalgia participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to a group that received MWM + Ultrasound (Group I), Cyriax Physiotherapy + ultrasound (Group II) and Ultrasound (Group III). Follow-up was done after one month. The primary outcome measures were NPRS, Grip Strength and Patient Rated Forearm Evaluation Questionnaire (PRFEQ). Analysis was performed using post HOC test, one way ANOVA, Paired and Unpaired t tests.
Means and standard deviations were used as descriptive statistics. It was revealed that MWM reduces pain and increases grip strength to a greater extent than Cyriax Physiotherapy.
The study finds evidence to support the use of both MWM and Cyriax in lateral epicondylitis over ultrasound; however Cyriax is inferior to MWM, although in post treatment they were very similar in effect. The results after one month follow up were clearly in favour of MWM as supported by the analysis.
Hypoalgesia, Grip Strength, MWM, Mill's Manipulation, Ultrasound
