Introduction. Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of diabetes that interferes with daily living and causes severe pain. Pharmacotherapy is the accepted treatment strategy, however, this strategy is associated with high cost, minimal reductions in pain, and adverse side effects. Thus, a critical need exists to develop alternative treatment strategies. Purpose. To determine if a 12-week whole-body vibration (WBV) intervention reduces pain in adults with DPN. Methods. Twenty-one adults with physician confirmed painful DPN volunteered to take part in a 26-week time series design study. Pain was assessed with the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form [BPI-sf] and a 0-10 numeric rating scale [NRS]. The BPI-sf contains two indices that respectively measure how pain interferes with daily living and severity. The intervention began after a 12-week control period. At week 13, participants were asked to stand on a WBV machine 3 d/week for 4, 3-min bouts at 30-50 Hz with 1-min rest intervals between bouts. Pain levels were reported using the NRS before and after each bout. Results. Comparing post- to pre-intervention, BPI-sf pain interference scores decreased from 5.61±1.40 to 2.39±1.82 (p≤0.001). BPI-sf pain severity scores decreased from 5.1±0.64 to 3.1±1.87 (p≤0.01). Analyses of the NRS scores indicate that pain decreased each week following WBV and that between weeks, pain continued to decrease. Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that whole-body vibration was effective at reducing pain in a sample of adults with painful DPN. / Graduation date: 2012

This study examined Neuro-Reflex Therapy, a type of reflexology, and effleurage massage for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy in men and women 40-73 years old with Type II diabetes. Participants were physician-referred to an alternative medicine clinic and were randomly assigned to Neuro-Reflex Therapy, effleurage massage, or a wait-list control group. The treatment groups received 12 individual 30 min sessions scheduled once a week for 12 weeks, and the control group received treatment after the study was completed. Scores on the Neuropathic Pain Scale, Section III of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory, the Profile of Mood States, the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, changes in foot temperature, and changes in scores on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were analyzed. As hypothesized, pain for both treatment groups significantly decreased from the control group; however, mood states, participation in daily activities, and temperature for the treatment groups did not significantly increase, compared to the control group, as expected.