Dry Needling for Hamstring Flexibility: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Parisa Alaei ◽  
Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari ◽  
Soofia Naghdi ◽  
Zahra Fakhari ◽  
Shiva Komesh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Muscle Length ◽  
Single Session ◽  
Dry Needling ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Hamstring Flexibility ◽  
Muscle Compliance ◽  
Single Blind

Context: Hamstring muscle tightness is one of the most common problems in athletic and healthy people. Dry needling (DN) was found to be an effective approach for improving muscle flexibility, but there is no study to compare this approach with static stretching (SS) as a common technique for the increase of muscle length. Objective: To compare the immediate effects of DN and SS on hamstring flexibility in healthy subjects with hamstring tightness. Study Design: A single-blind randomized controlled trial. Setting: A musculoskeletal physiotherapy clinic at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Subjects: Forty healthy subjects (female: 32, age range: 18–40 y) with hamstring tightness were randomly assigned into 2 groups of DN and SS. Intervention: The DN group received a single session of DN on 3 points of the hamstring muscles, each for 1 minute. The SS group received a single session of SS of the hamstrings, consisting of 3 sets of 30-second SS with a 10-second rest between sets in the active knee extension test (AKET) position. Main Outcome Measures: The AKET, muscle compliance, passive peak torque, and stretch tolerance were measured at the baseline, immediately, and 15 minutes after the interventions. Results: Improvements in all outcomes was better for the DN group than for the SS group. DN increased muscle compliance significantly 15 minutes after the intervention, but it did not improve in the SS group. Conclusion: DN is effective in improving hamstring flexibility compared with SS. One session of DN can be an effective treatment for hamstring tightness and increase hamstring flexibility. The improvements suggest that DN is a novel treatment for hamstring flexibility.

The Therapeutic Effects of Acupuncture on Patients with Chronic Neck Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (05) ◽  
pp. 849-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Yuan Sun ◽  
Ching-Liang Hsieh ◽  
Yung-Yen Cheng ◽  
Hung-Chang Hung ◽  
Tsai-Chung Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Myofascial Pain ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Pain Syndrome ◽  
Myofascial Pain Syndrome ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Single Blind

Chronic neck myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common disorder seen in clinics. There is no gold standard method to treat myofascial pain. We investigated the effects of acupuncture on patients with chronic neck MPS by a single-blind randomized controlled trial. A total of 35 patients were randomly allocated to an acupuncture group (AG) or a sham acupuncture group (SG). Each subject received acupuncture treatment twice per week for three consecutive weeks. The primary outcome measure was quality of life as assessed with Short Form-36, and secondary outcome measures were neck range of motion (ROM), motion-related pain, and Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), as determined by a blinded investigator. The clinical assessments were made before treatment (BT) and after six acupuncture treatments (AT), as well as four weeks (F1) and 12 weeks (F2) after the end of the treatment. A total of 34 patients completed the trial. The results indicated that there is no significant difference in the ROM, motion-related pain, and SF-MPQ scores between AG and SG at AT, F1 and F2 (all p > 0.05). However, AG has greater improvement in physical functioning and role emotional of Short Form-36 quality of life at F2. The results indicate that acupuncture may be used to improve the quality of life in patients with chronic neck MPS.

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