Acute and Short-Term Effects of Dry Needling in Patients with Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain and Hamstring Tightness: A Pilot Study.

Mahnaz Bazzaz-Yamchi,Amin Nakhostin-Ansari,Monavar Hadizadeh,Soofia Naghdi,Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari,Ehsan Moghimi,Scott Hasson,Stephen G Schwartz

doi:10.1155/2021/7259956

Abstract

Background Chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP) is one of the common health issues. Hamstring tightness contributes to the development of LBP. This study aimed to investigate the acute and short-term effects of deep dry needling (DN) in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP and hamstring muscle tightness. Methods A single-group pretest-posttest clinical study design was followed. The outcome measures were the visual analog scale (VAS), passive knee extension (PKE) test, finger-floor distance (FFD) test, and functional rating index (FRI). Patients underwent one session of deep DN of three points on both hamstring muscles, each point for one minute. Patients were assessed before (T0), immediately after (T1), and one week after DN (T2). The FRI was assessed at T0 and T2. Results Ten women with a mean age of 21.1 years (SD = 1.6) participated in the study. Significant large effect sizes in VAS pain reduction (d = 1.25) and PKE hamstring tightness were obtained (hamstring: right, d = 0.82; left, d = 0.88) at T2. Medium effect sizes were obtained for FFD (d = 0.45) and FRI (d = 0.72) at T2. Conclusion A single session of deep DN improved pain and function and increased hamstring flexibility. This pilot study supports the use of DN in patients with LBP and hamstring tightness; however, future research with a rigorous study design of randomized controlled trial is required to confirm the findings. This trial is registered with IRCT20180511039612N1.

Highlights

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the common health conditions, with a prevalence of 1.4–20% in developed countries and a global prevalence of 9.4% [1, 2]
Design. is pilot study used a single-group pretestposttest clinical design. e study was conducted in the Physiotherapy Clinic of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). e Ethical Committee of TUMS approved the study protocol (Code: IR.TUMS.FNM.REC.1397.056)
Functional Rating Index. e functional rating index (FRI) scores significantly improved at T2 one week after dry needling (DN) compared to that at T0 (t 2.91, df 9, p 0.01)

Summary

Introduction

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the common health conditions, with a prevalence of 1.4–20% in developed countries and a global prevalence of 9.4% [1, 2]. Previous studies have found that hamstring tightness is a contributing factor to LBP [5]. Tightness of hamstring muscles in patients with LBP influences lumbar pelvic rhythm [6, 7] and is associated with severe lumbar pain and changes in the sagittal curvature of spine [8]. Is study aimed to investigate the acute and short-term effects of deep dry needling (DN) in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP and hamstring muscle tightness. Is pilot study supports the use of DN in patients with LBP and hamstring tightness; future research with a rigorous study design of randomized controlled trial is required to confirm the findings. A single session of deep DN improved pain and function and increased hamstring flexibility. is pilot study supports the use of DN in patients with LBP and hamstring tightness; future research with a rigorous study design of randomized controlled trial is required to confirm the findings. is trial is registered with IRCT20180511039612N1

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Results

Conclusion