Clinical significance of Vibration Anesthesia on reducing pain of Ring-Block (Subcutaneous Injections) in the patients undergoing Hair Restoration Surgery

Pain is a complex phenomenon which is unpleasant. Different cosmetic procedures are associated with varying degrees of pain. Various modalities are adopted to decrease the severity of pain. The commonly used is the administration of analgesics (opioid or non-steroidal). The pain is carried to the brain by pain fibres. There are various theories about the pain [1,2]. Many attempts have been undertaken to find the modalities which decrease the perception of pain by the brain. The famous ‘gate theory’ was proposed in 1965 by Melzack et al. [3]. It was proposed that the pain experience can be reduced by the activation of nerve fibres that conduct non-toxic stimuli. The theory suggested that the stimulation of larger diameter fibres (A-beta) can close a neural ‘gate’ to nocioceptive signals and can reduce the perception of the pain. The ‘gate’ is proposed to lie within the spinal cord/brainstem and inhibits the transmission of nocioceptive action potentials to higher centres in the central nervous system [4]. The “post-synaptic inhibitory and fascilitatory mechanism” provide a basis for explaining the pain reducing strategies such as rubbing the painful area or applying cold or vibration to decrease the perception of the pain. Various topical irritants used in a few ‘magic’ creams also work on the same principle.Read more....