Effectiveness of physical therapy in addition to occlusal splint in myogenic temporomandibular disorders: protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are considered a collection of musculoskeletal conditions involving the masticatory muscles, the temporomandibular joint and associated structures. The myogenous group appears to represent the most frequently diagnosed category. In the context of a multimodal approach, splint therapy and musculoskeletal physiotherapy are often considered as a preferred therapy. The purpose of this study will be to investigate the effects of musculoskeletal physiotherapy combined with occlusal splint and education versus occlusal splint and education alone in the treatment of chronic myogenous TMD on pain and mandibular range of motion. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: All consecutive adults complaining of TMDs presented to the Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences of the University of Bologna will be considered eligible. Inclusion criteria shall be based on the presence of myogenous TMDs, as diagnosed through clinical examination in reference to the international diagnostic criteria of TMDs. Randomisation, concealed allocation, blinded assessment and intention-to-treat analysis will be employed. The splint therapy will consist of the use of the splint every night and concurrent delivery of an educational programme; the protocol shall have a duration of three consecutive months. The combined musculoskeletal physiotherapy, splint therapy and education will additionally consist of manual therapy techniques and exercise; such protocol shall consist of a duration of three consecutive months, inclusive of 10 sessions for the enhanced elements. All outcome measures will be collected at baseline, after treatment and at a 6 months follow-up. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the Independent Ethic Committee in Clinical Research of AUSL Bologna-Italy (47/2018/SPER/AUSLBO). Pursuant to applicable rules,we will obtain informed consent from each participant and collect data anonymously to maintain privacy. Results will be disseminated to clinicians and researchers through peer-reviewed publications and conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03726060.

COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on sexual life: Recommendations from the Italian Society of Andrology.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the coronavirus that causes an infectious disease, called COVID-19, first detected in patients with pneumonia in Wuhan (People's Republic of China) on December 2019. Italy was the first European country to state the outbreak of the infection and its Council of Ministers declared the state of health emergency on 31.01.2020, then the World Health Organization ruled a global pandemic on 11.03.2020. The nasopharyngeal swab is based on the detection of virus RNA and is the only reliable one for declaring COVID-19 infection. The most common symptoms observed in COVID-19 patients before hospitalization may be fever, chills, cough, dyspnea, asthenia, myalgia and/or arthralgia. This symptomatology can be often complicated in a dramatically increasing manner such as to require hospitalization starting from the third-fourth week. COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically affected the quality of life by changing inter-personal relationships, community life and obviously sexual health. The purpose of this work, based on available evidence, is to provide recommendations to help the population to face their sexual life in this critical period.

[Smartphone applications : useful for sex education, counselling and therapy ?] / Applications pour smartphones - Peuvent-elles être utiles pour l'éducation sexuelle, le counseling et la thérapie ?

In recent years, the number of smartphone users has exploded worldwide and downloads of applications for these phones have increased significantly. The purpose of this article is to present a review of the literature on the use of smartphone applications to improve sexual health, suggesting how they can be used in sex education, counselling and therapy ; the use of smartphone applications to provide sexual health information, particularly to younger populations, could increase awareness of risky sexual behaviours before first sexual intercourse. This article could help sexologists use smartphone applications to facilitate their work. It is very important that clinicians have specific knowledge of online sexual issues, otherwise they may be vulnerable to stereotypes and judgments.

Ces dernières années, le nombre d'utilisateurs de smartphones a explosé dans le monde entier et les téléchargements d'applications pour ces téléphones ont considérablement augmenté. Le but de cet article est de présenter une revue de la littérature sur l'utilisation des applications des téléphones intelligents pour améliorer la santé sexuelle, suggérant comment elles peuvent être utilisées dans l'éducation sexuelle, le counseling et la thérapie. Cet article pourrait aider les sexologues à utiliser les applications des téléphones intelligents pour faciliter leur travail. Il est très important que les cliniciens aient une connaissance spécifique des questions sexuelles en ligne, sinon ils peuvent être vulnérables aux stéréotypes et aux jugements.