Occipital Neuralgia: a noninvasive therapeutic approach.
Pablo Jesús López-Soto, José Miguel Bretones-García, Verónica Arroyo-García and 3 others
PMID 30462782WHAT IT FOUND
People with occipital neuralgia who used customized insoles, and some also osteopathy, had incomplete follow-up and mixed symptom reports.
Without a control group, neither component's contribution can be judged.
Key findings
01All 34 treated patients were prescribed plantar orthoses, but osteopathy was performed in only 15.
02After three follow-up visits, 38.2% reported no persistence, 20.6% reported improvement, 14.7% reported persistent symptoms, and 23.5% had no data.
03The paper reports a significant VAS difference, but the printed means are 2.6 before and 8.4 after intervention, while the conclusion states pain decreased.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, so improvement could not be separated from time, other care, or natural variation in occipital neuralgia. Many records were missing: gait and posture records were available for only 11 of 34 subjects, and 44.1% of total patients had no data at the second consultation. The paper states 34 treated patients but reports mean age for N=31, so the denominator is inconsistent. The VAS result is unclear: the reported means are 2.6 before and 8.4 after, yet the conclusion says pain decreased. Follow-up timing varied widely, with last visit median 1,312 days and many missing visits. Osteopathy was performed in only 15 subjects, so the paper cannot separate the effects of insoles and osteopathy.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that insoles or osteopathy reduce occipital neuralgia pain. There was no control group, many follow-up records were missing, and the printed VAS means were 2.6 before and 8.4 after, while the authors conclude pain decreased.