title: Effectiveness of dry needling on the lower trapezius in patients with mechanical neck pain: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of dry needling into a myofascial trigger point (MTrP) in the lower trapezius muscle of patients with mechanical idiopathic neck pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center, randomized, double-blinded controlled study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were recruited from the student population of a local hospital by advertisement in the university clinic from January 2010 to December 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients (N=72) with unilateral neck pain, neck pain for ≥3 months, and active trigger points in the lower trapezius muscle were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups. All the patients completed the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dry needling in an MTrP in the lower trapezius muscle, or dry needling in the lower trapezius muscle but not at an MTrP.
  
  
  METHODS
  The visual analog scale (VAS), Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ), and pressure-pain threshold (PPT) were assessed before the intervention and 1 week and 1 month postintervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment with dry needling of the lower trapezius muscle close to the MTrP showed decreases in pain and PPT as well as an improvement in the degree of disability (P<.001) compared with the baseline and control group measurements (P<.001). The dry-needling technique performed in the MTrP showed more significant therapeutic effects (P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of dry needling into an active MTrP of the lower trapezius muscle induces significant changes in the VAS, NPQ, and PPT levels compared with the application of dry needling in other locations of the same muscle in patients with mechanical neck pain.
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Alcalá University, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pecos-Martín
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Center for University Studies Cardenal Herrera University, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: F Javier
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Montañez-Aguilera
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Alcalá University, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gallego-Izquierdo
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Department, University Hospital Alcorcón Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urraca-Gesto
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, Murcia University, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Conesa
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Alcalá University, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Romero-Franco
authors.affiliation: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Medical Hydrology, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: gusplaza@ucm.es.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Plaza-Manzano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D064171:Superficial Back Muscles; D061028:Trigger Points; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Neck pain; Rehabilitation; Trigger points