The patient and the rationale
A 47-year-old man with intense pain affecting daily life was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Because even light contact provoked pain, Kanshoho was introduced as a low-force muscle relaxation technique.
Pain scores by site over 20 days
Treatment took place in hospital under the supervision of an experienced physician and began at about 1 N (about 100 gf). Site and session length were adjusted to symptoms, and the force was raised step by step — about 2 N, then 3 N — reaching about 4 N (about 400 gf) on day 19.
On day 12 the patient reported intense whole-body pain, with a VAS of 98 mm at every site. Follow-up continued, and on day 20 the values were 3 mm (left neck), 10 mm (right neck), 3 mm (posterior neck), 17 mm (right shoulder) and 5 mm (left shoulder).
| Day | Neck, left | Neck, right | Neck, posterior | Right shoulder | Left shoulder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 78 | 79 | 82 | 91 | 81 |
| 8 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 55 | 54 |
| 11 | 56 | 67 | 67 | 67 | 70 |
| 12 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 98 |
| 13 | 58 | 63 | 51 | 84 | 54 |
| 14 | 31 | 46 | 35 | 67 | 47 |
| 16 | 35 | 49 | 34 | 58 | 44 |
| 18 | 36 | 51 | 38 | 53 | 43 |
| 19 | 41 | 50 | 41 | 48 | 43 |
| 20 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 5 |
Pain VAS in mm, measured after each day’s session; all measurement days in Table 1 of the paper are shown. Source: Amitani et al., 2024, Table 1
The authors discuss relaxation of the trapezius, intramuscular pressure and the weather as possible contributors.
Scope and next steps
Research direction
This report describes the course of one patient. Further studies could use predefined participants and assessment time points to record pain, daily function and adverse events over time.
Safety and reporting
Contact-evoked pain and daily symptoms were checked throughout. The paper stresses supervision by an experienced physician and adjustment of the force to the patient’s condition. Written consent was obtained for publication of the case, images and video. The authors declared no funding and no competing interests.
Sources
Sections marked “Research direction” describe hypotheses and proposed studies for discussion with collaborators. Observations are presented with their participants, methods and sources.
Last updated: 2 October 2026