Dry Needling and Exercises in Shoulder Pain

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Status: Completed

Conditions: Shoulder Pain

Treatments: Other: TrP-DN; Other: exercise program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02338908

URJC 31/2140

Details and patient eligibility

About

Shoulder pain is highly prevalent in the society. The role of muscle tissues in this pathology has received increasing interest. Some studies have proposed the role of myofascial trigger points in this population. The purpose of the current clinical trial is to compare the effects of physiotherapy treatment consisting of an eccentric exercise protocol versus the same physical therapy program plus the addition of trigger point dry needling (TrP-DN) on pain and function in patients suffering from unspecific shoulder pain.

Enrollment: 50 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Unilateral non-traumatic shoulder pain
• Shoulder pain from at least 3 months
• Shoulder pain of more than 4 points on a NPRS

Exclusion criteria

• bilateral shoulder symptoms
• younger than 18 or older than 65 years
• history of shoulder fractures or dislocation
• cervical radiculopathy
• previous interventions with steroid injections
• fibromyalgia syndrome
• previous history of shoulder or neck surgery
• any type of intervention for the neck-shoulder area during the previous year

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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50 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental group

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will be asked to perform an eccentric loading exercise program for the shoulder musculature, particularly the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, to be performed on an individual basis twice every day. The therapeutic protocol will be applied for 5 weeks. In addition, within the second and fourth sessions, they will receive TrP-DN over active TrPs in the shoulder muscles

Treatment:

Other: TrP-DN

Other: exercise program

Control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients will be asked to perform an eccentric loading exercise program for the shoulder musculature, particularly the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, to be performed on an individual basis twice every day. The therapeutic protocol will be applied for 5 weeks.

Treatment:

Other: exercise program