Trigger Point Dry Needling With and Without Electrical Stimulation in Healthy Subjects

Conditions

• Healthy Subjects or Volunteers
• People With Identified Painful Trigger Points (Tp) Within the Soleus and Gastrocnemius Muscles Complex

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - 55 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• Dry needling with electrical stimulation — PROCEDURE
  A dry needle inserted into the trigger point and left in the muscle for 10 min. Also, parameters of electrical stimulation were set at a frequency of 30 Hz and a pulse width of 0.6 ms, at an intensity that caused a small muscle contraction.
• Dry needling — PROCEDURE
  A dry needle inserted into the trigger point and left in the muscle for 10 min. To ensure uniformity in conditions across all groups, a placebo electrical stimulation protocol was implemented, characterized by the initiation of electrical stimulation followed by its immediate cessation.
• Electrical stimulation — PROCEDURE
  Electrical stimulation setting is same as above dry needling with electrical stimulation group while the needle touch the skin to cause a prick over the muscle and were held there for 10 min.
• Sham — PROCEDURE
  The needle touches the skin to cause a prick over the muscle and were held there for 10 min (placebo dry needling) with placebo electrical stimulation which means initiating electrical stimulation but removing it instantaneously.

Study Details

DN is one of the most commonly used physical therapy (PT) interventions for managing trigger points (Tp). Evidence suggests that DN was equally effective as other PT interventions, compared to no treatment or Sham-DN. Electrical stimulation (ES) is also a commonly used non-invasive method for pain management during PT. Recently, several studies suggested that combining DN with ES may be more effective in trigger point release than DN alone. The goal of this clinical trial was to determine the effects that trigger point dry needling with and without electrical stimulation had on pain threshold. It would also learn about the effect the trigger point dry needling has on muscle activity in people with identified painful trigger points within the soleus and gastrocnemius muscle complex. The main questions it aims to answer are: * In terms of trigger point pain threshold, is DN combined with ES superior to DN alone, ES alone, or Sham treatment? * In terms of muscle activity, is DN with ES superior to DN only, ES only or Sham treatment? Researchers will compare dry needling with electrical stimulation, dry needling only, electrical stimulation only and a Sham treatment to see these interventions affect pain threshold and muscle activity. Participants will: * Randomly assigned as one of the four groups * Visit the clinic once for test * Receive permission and conduct intervention according to protocol.

Key Dates

Start date

Jan 2, 2023

Status verified

Dec 2025

Primary completion

Apr 20, 2023

Completion

Apr 30, 2023

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants (actual)

Allocation

NA

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Healthy subjects who has identified painful trigger points within the soleus and gastrocnemius.
  This study was a randomized controlled trial. Forty volunteers, aged 18-55 were recruited, signed an informed consent and randomly placed in four equal groups: dry needling with simultaneous electrical stimulation, dry needling only, electrical stimulation only, and a Sham treatment.

Primary Outcome Measure

To determine the effects that trigger point dry needling with and without electrical stimulation has on pain threshold [ Time Frame: This was a single time point study. Pain threshold was assessed before (baseline) and at 10 and 30 mins post treatment. ]

Locations (1)

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