Comparative study regarding the impact of dry needling therapy in the treatment of chronic cervical idiopathic pain

Abstract

Regarding the number of years lived with a disability, neck pain is an important condition worldwide and at least one episode affects an individ during a lifetime.The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of dry needling in addition to routine care in patients with idiopathic chronic neck pain. The study was performed on a sample on 20 females, aged 32-45 years, with this condition. Chosen patiens were grouped into two groups. In Group 1 the patientsbenefited from a protocol which included specific rehabilitation exercises focused on neck, upper limbs, mobility, strength and stretching exercices. The Group 2 included patients who benefited from a rehabilitation program which included exercises and dry needling therapy performed on the shoulder area, trapezius muscle, splenius, elevator scapulae, paravertebral muscles. The treatment lasted 8 weeks, with a frequency of dry needling of1 session/week.To monitor the evolution of the research subjects, were used The Visual Analog Pain Scale (VAS) and Neck Disability Index (NDI).NDI values showed improvements in both groups from 34.8 to 25.4 in Group 2 and from 35.6 to 30.0 in Group 1. So, NDI values showed a better functional status in both groups after 8 weeks of treatment.The mean results of VAS and NDI at the final evaluations showed a higher efficacy of the conservative treatment associated with dry needling, with a major statistical significance (p <0.05) in the case of mean VAS values at the final evaluation(Group 1: VAS 2 = 4.25; Group 2: VAS 2 = 2.60).