Vibration therapy in multiple sclerosis: a pilot study exploring its effects on tone, strength, sensation and functional performance
Revive MS Support/Glasgow Caledonian University School of Health and Social Care
Increasing numbers of people had been asking our information team about whole body vibration machines, which are now available in many gyms in the UK. We were delighted to be approached by a research team who also wanted answers to the questions of safety and usefulness of this therapy for people with MS.
Twelve people completed this small pilot study. They carried out a set of exercises with and without vibrations, for a fixed number of sessions over a three month period. Several different measures were used to evaluate and compare the benefits of the two exercise regimes. For most of the measures there was a wide variation within the group, reflecting the range of disabilities of the participants.
In general the results demonstrated small improvements following both exercise alone and exercise combined with whole body vibration (WBV) but there was no indication that the addition of WBV provided any added benefit over exercise alone.
Although WBV did not lead to a statistically significant improvement in the measures, comments from the participants were generally positive. People reported fewer spasms at night, better sleep, improved ability to climb stairs and better sensation in their feet.
Of critical importance from this small scale pilot study was that, whilst there was no significant benefit to using WBV, there were also few adverse reactions and those which did occur were, with one exception where the vibration caused a flare up of a pre-existing knee condition, not due to the vibration itself.
Further larger scale studies into the effects of WBV in MS are essential. Research is needed to identify the best ways to use WBV, such as length of time vibration is applied, number of exercise sessions, and frequency or amplitude of vibrations.
A full report of the study has been prepared and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
