ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pain significantly decreases the quality of life. The treatment of back pain relies heavily on comprehensive rehabilitation. This study compared the effectiveness of deep electromagnetic stimulation and radial shock wave therapy in the opinion of patients with back pain of various aetiology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 73 subjects, of whom 36 patients underwent radial shock wave therapy and 37 patients underwent deep electromagnetic stimulation. All patients had a diagnosis of discopathy or osteoarthritis in the cervical or lumbar spine. Data were collected by means of an original ano-nymous questionnaire. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated a reduction in pain intensity after a series of their respective treatments (p=0.03). There were no statistically significant differences in pain intensity between the groups directly on com-pletion of the treatment (p=0.227) and at 2 weeks (p=0.058) and 1 month after the treatment (p=0.084). CONCLUSION: Deep electromagnetic stimulation and radial shock wave therapy provide similarly satisfac-tory analgesic outcomes in patients with back pain.
