Dry needling versus ultrasonic in treating cervical myofascial pain syndrome

Abstract

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a complex pain syndrome characterized by myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in skeletal muscles. Ultrasound (US) therapy is one of the main devices used in physical therapy, for the treatment of MTrPs in MPS. Dry needling is skilled technique also used in the treatment of MTrPs in MPS. Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effect of dry needling with the effect of ultrasonic waves in the treatment of cervical myofascial pain. Subjects: a sample of 30 patients with myofascial trigger points in trapezius muscle was randomly chosen and divided into 2 groups each contains 15 patients. Methods: the first group was treated by ultrasonic waves in a pulsed mode (1MHz, 1W/cm2, 1:1 ratio) 5 min to each trigger point and the second group was treated with deep dry needling (peppering technique) to each trigger point with a rate of 3 times per week for 3 weeks. Results: All patients shows significant improvement (P>0.001) immediately after treatment period with disappearance of trigger points, increasing in cervical ROM and decreasing in VAS ; but 3 weeks later trigger points reappeared, ROM decreased and VAS increased again. Conclusion: both modalities of treatment were considered effective in treating myofascial pain syndrome.