Effect of fascia dry needling on non-specific thoracic pain – A proposed dry needling grading system

ABSTRACT

This case report describes a 42-year-old female who presented with complaints of diffuse pain in her thoracic paraspinal region from T2 to T7. Physical examination revealed tenderness, increased turgor and restriction of her superficial fascia. A potential first time description of successful management utilizing fascia dry needling is described in this report with improvements noted in pain, range of motion, and functional activities. The patient was discharged from physiotherapy after four treatment sessions, and a follow-up after 3 months revealed that she was pain free and fully functional. A grading system (Sudarshan and Murugavel Dry Needling Grading Scale^©) is proposed describing the various grades of dry needling to guide clinical reasoning and decision-making.

KEYWORDS:

• Connective tissue
• dry needling
• fascia
• intramuscular stimulation
• myofascial pain
• soft tissue manipulation
• superficial needling
• thoracic pain
• thoracic spine
• trigger points

Acknowledgment

The authors thank Megan Sawatsky MPT MCPA for her assistance in preparing this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The author reports no declarations of interest.