EMG Activity Before, During and After Dry Needling

NCT02638987 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2015/0740
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 24
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

An experimental study will be conducted to evaluate the effect of a single dry needling session on surface EMG activity (primary outcome measure), muscle tone, elasticity, stiffness and pain (secondary outcome measures) of the upper trapezius, in female office workers with trapezius myalgia.

Conditions

Neck Pain

Keywords

Dry needling; office workers; myofascial pain; electromyography

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in surface resting EMG activity of the upper trapezius after dry needling as assessed by the EMG DTS device

  Device: Noraxon USA Desktop Direct Transmission System (DTS) for EMG Changes in resting EMG activity of the upper trapezius immediately after dry needling and 10 minutes after dry needling, compared to resting EMG activity after a typing task, will be measured by using surface electrodes placed bilaterally at the MTrP 2 location of the upper trapezius (halfway between C7 and the posterolateral edge of the acromion). The change in EMG activity after dry needling will be compared with the change in EMG activity after rest. Resting EMG activity will be expressed as a percentage of submaximal reference contractions of the upper trapezius (% reference contractions).

  Immediately after a typing task of 20 minutes, one minute after dry needling, 10 minutes after dry needling

Secondary Outcomes (12)

• Changes in surface resting EMG activity of the upper trapezius after rest as assessed by the EMG DTS device

  Immediately after a typing task of 20 minutes, immediately after a resting pause of 10 minutes

• Changes in surface resting EMG activity of the upper trapezius during a fatiguing typing task of 20 minutes as assessed by the EMG DTS device

  During the typing task, every five minutes EMG activity will be measured for 30 seconds

• Differences in active muscle tension of the upper trapezius (ratio between resting EMG activity in upright and lying position) between the (dominant) painful and heterolateral side, as assessed by the EMG DTS device

  At baseline

• Differences in muscle fatigue of the upper trapezius (ratio between resting EMG activity before and after a typing task of 20 minutes) between the (dominant) painful and heterolateral side, as assessed by the EMG DTS device

  Before and after a typing task of 20 minutes

• Changes in muscle tone, stiffness and elasticity of the upper trapezius after dry needling as assessed by the MyotonPRO ®

  Immediately after a typing task of 20 minutes, one minute after dry needling, 10 minutes after dry needling

Study Arms (2)

Dry needling

EXPERIMENTAL

After the second computer task, a single dry needling session will be performed with the subject lying on the non painful side. After palpation of a taut band and detection of MTrP 2 in the upper trapezius muscle, a trained physiotherapist will penetrate the needle into the MTrP and will move the needle up and down in multiple directions. When local twitch responses are elicited, this will be repeated until the local twitch responses are extinct.

Procedure: Dry needling

Rest

NO INTERVENTION

After the first computer task, participants will rest in sidelying position for 10 minutes.

Interventions

Dry needling PROCEDURE

Dry needling (DN) is a myofascial treatment technique, in which a thin, solid filiform needle is inserted directly into the MTrP. During dry needling, local twitch responses (LTR) can be elicited. These are involuntary contractions of muscle fibers, leading to muscle relaxation, an increase in blood flow,recovery of the muscle metabolism and thus a reduction of pain and stiffness.

Dry needling

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 25 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Performing office work since at least one year
• Performing computer based tasks for at least 20 hours a week
• NRS \> or equal to 3/10
• Clinical diagnosis of trapezius myalgia
• Trapezius myalgia is work-related and thus aggravates during working day/week
• Presence of MTrP2 in the upper trapezius muscle (bilaterally)

You may not qualify if:

• Being in treatment during the study
• Traumatic injuries/surgery to neck and upper limb region
• Signs of cervical nerve root impingement
• Whiplash injury
• Cardiovascular, neurological, life threatening, systemic and metabolic diseases
• Diagnosis of fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome
• Shoulder pathology
• Coagulation disorders
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Ghent: lead

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Neck Pain

Interventions

Dry Needling

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities

Study Officials

• Barbara Cagnie, PhD

  University Ghent

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 9, 2015
• First Posted: December 23, 2015
• Study Start: September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: January 1, 2016
• Study Completion: January 1, 2016
• Last Updated: December 5, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-11