Dry Needling vs Dry Needling With ES in Patients With Neck/Shoulder Pain
Condition: Myofascial Pain; Neck Pain; Shoulder Pain
MeSH terms: Shoulder Pain; Neck Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      First, we aim to determine if there is a difference in the rate of improvement, as measured
      by the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), across a 6 week
      treatment period between those treated with DN only and those treated with DN and
      intramuscular electrical stimulation (IES) in subjects with upper trapezius active trigger
      points (aTrPs). Secondly, we want to determine if improvements in clinical outcomes (NDI and
      NPRS) of patients with upper trapezius active trigger points (aTrPs) treated with dry
      needling (DN) alone or dry needling with intramuscular electrical stimulation (DN/IES) are
      maintained 6 weeks post treatment without further intervention.

      Research Questions:

        1. Is there a difference in the rate of improvement in NDI and NPRS across a 6 week
           treatment period in subjects with upper trapezius active trigger points (aTrPs) between
           those treated with DN only and those treated with DN and intramuscular electrical
           stimulation (IES)?

        2. Are improvements in clinical outcomes (NDI and NPRS) of patients with upper trapezius
           active trigger points (aTrPs) treated with dry needling (DN) maintained 6 weeks post
           treatment without further intervention? Tertiary exploration: If improvement is
           maintained, is there a difference in outcome maintenance between groups? Did improvement
           increase between 6 and 12 weeks?
    


Intervention name(s): Dry needling (DN); Dry needling with intramuscular electrical stimulation (DNES)
Intervention type(s): Procedure; Procedure
Intervention description(s): One to three filament needles (similar to an acupuncture needle) with no medication will be inserted into the tender area of my muscle. The needles will be repositioned a few times to make the muscle twitch. After several twitches occur, the researcher will leave the needles as they are, and the subject will sit in a chair without moving my arms or head, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the needles are removed and discarded.; One to three filament needles (similar to an acupuncture needle) with no medication will be inserted into the tender area of the muscle. The needles will be repositioned a few times to make the muscle twitch. After several twitches occur, the researcher will leave the needles as they are, and attach alligator clips to the needles to provide electrical stimulus for 10 minutes while the subject sits in a chair without moving arms or head. After 10 minutes, the electrical stimulus will be turned off and detached, and the needles removed and discarded.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Experimental There will be two groups in this study, DN alone and DN/IES. Each group will have approximately 22 subjects, resulting in approximately 44 subjects total. Subjects will be randomized into one of the two groups via block randomization method based on order of entry into the study.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment