Effectiveness of Dry Needling, Manual Therapy, and Kinesio Taping® for Patients with Chronic Myofascial Neck Pain: A Single-Blind Clinical Trial

Background: Chronic neck pain (CNP) is a common disorder associated with substantial morbidity. Different methods of rehabilitation are used to manage chronic myofascial neck pain. Objectives: The present study aims to assess the effects of dry needling (DN), manual therapy (MT) and Kinesio Taping® (KT) methods on the treatment of patients with chronic myofascial neck pain. Methods: Thirty-nine individuals (mean ± standard deviation (SD): Age 35 ± 10.1 years; height 178.6 ± 7.5 cm; body mass 86.9 ± 7.7 kg) out of 57 patients (age range: 18 - 55 years) were included in the current single-blinded randomized clinical trial. The subjects were assigned into 3 groups (N = 13 subjects in each group) including DN, MT, and KT. Pain intensity, pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), neck disability index (NDI), and cervical spine range of motion (CROM) in different directions were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires and cervical goniometer at baseline and following 5 treatment sessions. Following the evaluation of the normal distribution of variables by Shapiro-Wilk test, the paired-samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: Pain intensity and catasrophizing, neck disability, and CROM in all directions significantly improved following the 3 interventions (P 0.05). The score changes in CROM for rotation to right and left in MT group were significantly greater than those of the other 2 groups (P 0.001). Comparisons of changes in scores of other variables between the 3 groups revealed no significant differences (P 0.05). Conclusions: It is assumed that DN, MT, and KT can improve pain and neck disability and increase CROM in patients with myofascial CNP. The MT techniques are more effective in increasing CROM for rotation compared to the other 2 methods.