Spinal cord mechanism involving the remote effects of dry needling on the irritability of myofascial trigger spots in rabbit skeletal muscle
Two articles on PainSci cite Hsieh 2011: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. The Trigger Point Identity Crisis
PainSci notes on Hsieh 2011:
According to Dommerholt et al.: “They measured the concentrations of a variety of biochemicals, including b- endorphine, substance P, tumor necrosis factor-a, cyclo- oxygenase-2, hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and vascular endothelial growth factor and noted that dry needling of TrPs can modulate these concentrations in a dosage dependent manner.”
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the remote effects produced by dry needling rabbit skeletal muscle myofascial trigger spots (MTrSs) via analyses of their endplate noise (EPN) recordings.
DESIGN: Experimental animal controlled trial.
SETTING: An animal laboratory of a university.
ANIMALS: Male New Zealand rabbits (N=96) (body weight, 2.5-3.0kg; age, 16-20wk).
INTERVENTION: Animals received no intervention for neural interruption in group I, transection of the tibial nerve in group II, transection of L5 and L6 spinal cord in group III, and transection of the T1 and T2 spinal cord in group IV. Each group was further divided into 4 subgroups: animals received ipsilateral dry needling, contralateral dry needling, ipsilateral sham needling, or contralateral sham needling of gastrocnemius MTrSs.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: EPN amplitudes of biceps femoris (BF) MTrSs.
RESULTS: BF MTrS mean EPN amplitudes significantly increased (P<.05) initially after gastrocnemius verum needling but reduced to a level significantly lower (P<.05) than the preneedling level in groups I and IV with ipsilateral dry needling or contralateral dry needling, and in group II with contralateral dry needling (but not ipsilateral dry needling). No significant EPN amplitude changes were observed in BF MTrS in group III or in the control animals receiving superficial needling (sham).
CONCLUSION: This remote effect of dry needling depends on an intact afferent pathway from the stimulating site to the spinal cord and a normal spinal cord function at the levels corresponding to the innervation of the proximally affected muscle.
related content
- “Endplate potentials are common to midfiber myofacial trigger points,” David G Simons, Chang-Zern Hong, and Lois Statham Simons, Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2002.
- “Myofascial trigger points: spontaneous electrical activity and its consequences for pain induction and propagation,” Hong-You Ge, César Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, and Shou-Wei Yue, Chin Med, 2011.
- “The myofascial trigger point region: correlation between the degree of irritability and the prevalence of endplate noise,” Ta-Shen Kuan, Yueh-Ling Hsieh, Shu-Min Chen, Jo-Tong Chen, Wei-Chang Yen, and Chang-Zern Hong, Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2007.
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- Relationships Between Sleep Quality and Pain-Related Factors for People with Chronic Low Back Pain: Tests of Reciprocal and Time of Day Effects. Gerhart 2017 Ann Behav Med.
- Modulation in the elastic properties of gastrocnemius muscle heads in individuals with plantar fasciitis and its relationship with pain. Zhou 2020 Sci Rep.