Functional electrical stimulation for improving shoulder pain
NCT ID NCT07886827
First seen Oct 21, 2026 · Last updated Oct 22, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether adding functional electrical stimulation (FES) to a shoulder exercise program improves how the shoulder muscles work together in older adults with rotator cuff-related shoulder pain. FES uses small electrical currents delivered through pads on the skin to help muscles contract. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does exercise combined with FES improve coordination between the rotator cuff and deltoid muscles more than exercise alone? 2. Does exercise combined with FES increase the space between the top of the upper arm bone and the shoulder blade (acromiohumeral distance), which may reduce pinching of the shoulder tendons? Researchers will compare a group that receives resistance exercise with FES to a group that receives the same resistance exercise without FES. Participants will: 1. Attend exercise sessions 3 times per week for 4 weeks (12 sessions) 2. Complete 4 testing visits: before training, after 2 weeks, after 4 weeks, and 4 weeks after training ends 3. At each testing visit, perform shoulder strength tasks while muscle activity is recorded with sensors on the skin and thin wire sensors placed in the muscle, have an ultrasound of the shoulder, and complete questionnaires about shoulder pain and function
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
-
About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
-
Sep 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
60 years and older
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Having pain more than 2 weeks in the anterolateral shoulder region * A painful arc of movement (60°-120°) * Having shown positive impingement signs, including positive Neer, Hawkins, and Empty Can tests Exclusion Criteria: * Acute diagnosed rotator cuff tears * Osteoarthritis-induced shoulder pain * Currently receiving treatment or physical therapy for shoulder pain * Previous shoulder surgery * Taking medications that affect the central nervous system * Metabolic or cardiovascular disease * Metal Implants or pacemakers * Skin lesions on the shoulder * Aversion to needles
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Rotator cuff disease are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712
RECRUITINGAustin, Texas, 78703, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Effects of different kinesio taping methods on pain, function, subacromial distance, and proprioception in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome: a randomized controlled trial
- The effect of applying respiratory muscle strengthening and diaphragmatic breathing exercises on pain levels, sleep quality, and lung capacity in participants with shoulder pain and disability
- Housework, posture, and phone use: what ties them to neck and shoulder pain?
- Can talking and learning beat physio for shoulder pain?
- Can a pamphlet make sling recovery easier?
- Scientists build a better yardstick for shoulder pain that strikes at night