Dry Needling and Shoulder Muscle Blood Flow, Motions, and Pain Sensitivity in Individuals with Shoulder Pain

Summary

Shoulder pain is one of the most common reasons people consult with their primary health care provider, and 40-50% of these patients with shoulder pain continued to complain of persistent symptoms after 6 to 12 months. It has been suggested that the presence of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) may contribute to the chronicity of shoulder symptoms. An MTrP is a hyperirritable taut band of tissue within a muscle that produces pain when stimulated MTrPs are common in patients with shoulder disorders and occur most often in the infraspinatus muscle of a painful shoulder MTrPs were associated with an acidic biochemical environment with elevated levels of inflammatory mediators, neuropeptides, and proinflammatory cytokines such as bradykinin and calcitonin g-related peptide. It was hypothesized that metabolic demands on muscle and capillary constrictions may contribute to the development of MTrPs. To date, only a few studies have examined the vascular environment of MTrPs and surrounding areas before and after dry needling. No studies have yet examined whether dry needling would change blood flow in patients with shoulder pathology. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study is to examine the effect of dry needling on blood flow of the infraspinatus muscle using color Doppler imaging in individuals with shoulder pain. The secondary purpose is to examine the effect of DN on shoulder motion and sensitivity to pressure in individuals with shoulder pain.

Conditions

• Dry Needling
• Shoulder Pain

Interventions

OTHER

Dry Needling

A sterile, disposable, solid filament needle (Seirin Corp., Shizuoka, Japan) will be inserted manually into the MTrP of the infraspinatus muscles. Once the needle has been inserted, the technique described by Hong (1994) will be used. The needle will be pistoned in an up and down motion within the infraspinatus muscle at approximately 1Hz for 10 seconds with the aim of eliciting local twitch responses.

OTHER

Sham Dry Needling

Streitberger Placebo-needles (Asia-med, Las Vegas, NV) will be used to perform the intervention for participants in the sham DN group. These needles have been reported to be indistinguishable from real needles. The device consists of a plastic tube with a blunted tip needle that allows for the sensation of a prick without penetrating the skin. The sham needle produces a sensation, which causes the participant to feel as if the needle enters the skin, while maintaining similar patient-therapist contact time and total intervention time.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Texas Woman's University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jace A Brown, DPT · Texas Woman's University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-22

Primary Completion

2025-10-01

Completion

2025-10-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations