Cervical-Cranial Dry Needling vs. Orthopedic Manual Therapy for Cervicogenic Headache

Summary

Dry needling is a therapeutic modality used to treat a number of neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Practice trends suggest it is becoming widely used by Physical Therapists to help patients manage symptoms associated with CGH, however, there is limited scientific evidence demonstrating meaningful impact for dry needling for CGH. Manual therapy (thrust and non-thrust mobilizations) to the cervical spine are well researched and have an established treatment effect for managing symptoms related to CGH. The purpose of this study is to compare outcomes (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 12 months) for patients with CGH treated with cervical-cranial dry needling or pragmatically applied orthopedic manual therapy to the cervical spine. In addition to either the cervical-cranial dry needling or manual therapy to the cervical spine, patients will also receive patient education, thoracic manipulation, and exercise.

Conditions

• Cervicogenic Headache

Interventions

OTHER

Cervical-cranial dry needling

Segmental needling of the neck and needling in the patient's headache distribution. Peripherally sensitized areas of the neck may also be dry needled based on the findings of the clinical evaluation.

OTHER

Orthopedic manual therapy

Orthopedic Manual Therapy (OMT) that includes either mobilization or manipulation to the cervical spine applied pragmatically to the most symptomatic level.

OTHER

Thoracic Manipulation

Thoracic Manipulation (applied pragmatically) to the levels determined to be provocative or hypomobile.

OTHER

Exercise

Clinicians select 1 active range of motion exercise for the cervical spine, deep cervical flexion endurance exercise, and 5 upper extremity exercises (from a set of 10). Additionally, patients will be assigned a headache management technique.

OTHER

Patient Education

Patients will receive education regarding their headache condition, proper performance of their symptom management technique, posture.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Franklin Pierce University

  collaborator OTHER

• Youngstown State University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• David Griswold, PhD · Associate Professor at Youngstown State University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-07-05

Primary Completion

2025-10-10

Completion

2025-12-10

Countries

• United States

Study Locations