An interventional study of Dry Needling and Therapeutic Exercise in Neck Pain, Posterior, sponsored by Camilo Jose Cela University. Completed at 1 site in Spain. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-07-01.
Sponsored by Camilo Jose Cela University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Since neck pain is the fourth highest disabling condition (with an estimated point prevalence of 20%, lifetime prevalence up to 70% and high recurrence rates), dry needling targeting myofascial trigger points in neck muscles has been proposed as an effective treatment for reducing pain and disability in patients with chronic neck pain.
A recent meta-analysis reported whether dry needling could be recommended for this population. Low to moderate evidence suggests that dry needling can be effective at the short-term, but its effects on pressure pain sensitivity or cervical range of motion are limited.
1,232 studies on the registry are indexed under Neck Pain; 255 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 40 is below the median of 52 across 1,004 interventional studies indexed under Neck Pain.
Browse Neck Pain studies →Camilo Jose Cela University is the lead sponsor of 22 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
This group will receive dry needling, manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus) and therapeutic exercise interventions
Other: Dry Needling · Behavioral: Therapeutic Exercise · Other: Manual Therapy
This group will receive manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus), therapeutic exercise interventions and a previously described sham dry needling intervention.
Behavioral: Therapeutic Exercise · Other: Manual Therapy · Other: Sham Dry Needling
Dry needling consists of a skilled intervention which uses a thin filiform needle (as those used in acupuncture) to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points (defined as "a hyperirritable spot in skeletal muscle that is associated with a hypersensitive palpable nodule in a taut band which is painful on manual compression and can give rise to characteristic referred pain, referred tenderness, motor dysfunction and autonomic phenomena.") This intervention will be performed targeting the upper trapezius and cervical multifidus muscles
Patients will include a supervised therapeutic exercise program in their daily life, based on strengthening exercises for neck muscles.
Patients will receive a manual compression (30 seconds) over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus muscle.
For the sham DN intervention, a similar approach will be used, but the skin will be not pierced since the material used will be a telescopic Park's sham device. The guide tube will be pressed against the skin mark and the sham needle will be allowed to drop. The handle will be tapped briskly, but the (blunted) needle tip will not not break the skin.
Visual Analogue Scale
A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)
Time frame: Baseline
Visual Analogue Scale
A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)
Time frame: One month follow-up
Visual Analogue Scale
A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)
Time frame: Three months follow-up
Visual Analogue Scale
A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)
Time frame: Six months follow-up
Visual Analogue Scale
A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)
Time frame: Twelve months follow-up
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Time frame: Baseline
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Time frame: One month follow-up
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Time frame: Three months follow-up
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Time frame: Six months follow-up
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Time frame: Twelve months follow-up
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Time frame: Baseline
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Time frame: One month follow-up
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Time frame: Three months follow-up
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Time frame: Six months follow-up
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Time frame: Twelve months follow-up
Neck Disability Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Time frame: Baseline
Neck Disability Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Time frame: One month follow-up
Neck Disability Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Time frame: Three months follow-up
Neck Disability Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Time frame: Six months follow-up
Neck Disability Index
This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Time frame: Twelve months follow-up
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.
Time frame: Baseline
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.
Time frame: One month follow-up
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.
Time frame: Three months follow-up
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.
Time frame: Six months follow-up
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.
Time frame: Twelve months follow-up
Plan to share: No
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This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Camilo Jose Cela University