Effect of Dry-Needling Induced Muscle Soreness (DIMS) on the Severity of Pain Post Deep Trigger Point Needling

Introduction: Dry-Needling (DN) induced muscle soreness is a common adverse event that takes place in almost majority of patients who received deep dry needling treatment. The effect of soreness on clinical outcomes has not been evidenced in the existing literature. Aim: To evaluate the correlation between the deep dry-needling induced muscle soreness and severity of shoulder pain in patients with myofascial pain. Materials and Methods: Seventy six participants in the age group of 30 to 60 years with Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrP) in the shoulder girdle muscles were treated with 10-12 minutes of deep dry needling. Shoulder pain severity was assessed at baseline prior to dry needling and 48 hours after dry needling using 0-10 cm Visual Analog Scale WAS). The severity of muscle soreness was assessed immediately after dry needling, at 24 hours and 48 hours after the deep dry needling, Correlation between the shoulder pain and muscle soreness was analysed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Result: A significant reduction of shoulder pain was observed at 48 hours (Median VAS: 7 at Baseline, 3 at 48 hours, and Median difference = 4, IQR = 2-3) after the dry needling. No significant correlation was observed between the original pain severity and needle induced muscle soreness at 24 hours (rho = -.218, p=0.059) and 48 hours (rho = -.170, p=0.143). Conclusion: Based on the result, we conclude that there is no significant correlation between the dry-needling induced muscle soreness and shoulder pain severity among the patients who received deep dry-needling for myofascial pain. We also suggest that dry-needling induced muscle soreness has no adverse effect on the shoulder pain severity post deep trigger point dry needling.