Effects of dry needling on spinal mobility and trigger points in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome
Open accessAbstract
Background: The etiology of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is inconclusive, but central mechanisms are well accepted for this pain condition. Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is one of the most common musculoskeletal pain diseases and is characterized by myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). It has been suggest that MTrPs have an important factor in the genesis of FMS. Objective: The purpose of the current randomized clinical trial was to compare the effectiveness of dry needling versus cross tape on spinal mobility and MTrPs in spinal muscles in patients with FMS. Study Design: A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on patients with FMS. Setting: Clinical setting. Methods: Sixty-four patients with FMS were randomly assigned to an experimental group receiving dry needling therapy or to a control group for cross tape therapy in the MTrPs in the latissimus dorsi, iliocostalis, multifidus, and quadratus lumbourum muscles. Spinal mobility measures and MTrPs algometry were recorded at baseline and after 5 weeks of treatment. Results: The repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that significant differences between groups were achieved for the MTrPs in latissimus dorsi muscle (right axillary portion: F = 9.80, P = 0.003); multifidus muscle (right L2 level: F = 11.80, P = 0.001); quadratus lumborum (right lateral superficial upper: F = 6.67, P = 0.012; and right lateral superficial lower: F = 5.38, P = 0.024). In addition, the ANOVA repeated measures test showed significant differences between groups for the segmental amplitude thoracic spine in the standing erect position (F = 7.33, P = 0.009), and segmental amplitude of lumbar spine (F = 11.60, P = 0.001) in the sitting erect position. Limitations: The outcomes were not collected from a long-term follow-up period. Dry needling therapy or cross tape were used alone when in reality physical therapists usually treat patients with FMS using a multi-modal approach. A non-treatment control group was not included. Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that dry needling therapy reduces myofacial trigger points algometry on thoracic and lumbar muscles. Dry needling and cross tape approaches reported a similar effect size for spinal mobility measures in patients with FMS. Key words: Fibromyalgia, trigger points, physical therapy modalities, musculoskeletal equilibrium, myofascial pain syndromes
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Strong evidence showed that dry needling significantly increased pressure pain threshold in more than half of the evaluated body points in the short term.
“Strong evidence showed that dry needling increased significantly PPT in more than half of the body points evaluated in the short term [12,36].”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as [36]
The ‘Changes in Algometry for the MTrPs’ section reports significant pre-to-post-treatment improvement at most measured trigger points after four weeks, supporting the short-term PPT finding. But these were within-group results in patients with fibromyalgia; only four points showed significant differences from cross tape, and the paper does not characterize the evidence as strong. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the dry needling group improved more than the cross tape group on 4 of 26 pressure pain threshold points (P < 0.05).
“G1 improved compared to G2 for VAS pain (P < 0.01) and 4 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
In Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the cross tape group improved on VAS pain (P < 0.05).
“G1 and G2 improved in VAS pain and 22 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
In Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the dry needling group improved on VAS pain (P < 0.05).
“G1 and G2 improved in VAS pain and 22 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
In Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the dry needling group improved more than the cross tape group on VAS pain (P < 0.01).
“G1 improved compared to G2 for VAS pain (P < 0.01) and 4 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
In Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the cross tape group improved on 22 of 26 pressure pain threshold points (P < 0.05).
“G1 and G2 improved in VAS pain and 22 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
In Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017), the dry needling group improved on 22 of 26 pressure pain threshold points (P < 0.05).
“G1 and G2 improved in VAS pain and 22 out of 26 points PPT (P < 0.05).”
From Effectiveness of non-pharmacological conservative therapies in adults with fibromyalgia: A systematic review of high-quality clinical trials (2022) · cites this paper as Castro-Sanchez et al. (2017)
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Castro Sánchez, A. M., García López, H., Fernández Sánchez, M., Pérez Mármol, J. M., Aguilar-Ferrándiz, M. E., Luque Suárez, A., & Matarán Peñarrocha, G. A. (2019) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2018.1461259 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Castro-Sánchez, A. M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Medicine, University of Almeria (UAL) Almeria, Spain
- Venue
- Pain Physician
- Published
- 2017-02-14
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 20;2
- Pages
- 37-52
- ISSN
- 1533-3159 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-1149
- OpenAlex
- W2980720579
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Pain Physician (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
- Keywords
- fibromyalgia, dry needling, myofascial trigger points, spinal mobility, latissimus dorsi, multifidus, quadratus lumborum, iliocostalis, lumbar range of motion, myofascial pain syndrome, algometry, central sensitization, pain management, physiotherapy
- MeSH terms
- Fibromyalgia, Humans, Myofascial Pain Syndromes, Single-Blind Method, Physical Therapy Modalities, Trigger Points, Superficial Back Muscles
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