Background: Chronic non-specific neck pain is considered to be a common cervical spine disorder which usually affects the patient’s day to day activities. Non-specific neck pain affects the deep cervical musculature frequently, thus causing pain. Dry needling is an invasive technique used by physical therapists and other professionals that involves use of a thin needle without an injectate to relieve pain. This study presents the use of this invasive procedure to facilitate pain reduction on an immediate basis in a case of chronic non-specific neck pain.

Case Description: A 24 year old female presented with non-specific neck pain for last 4 years, responded poorly to medications and previous physiotherapy interventions. Her pain aggravated in past 1 month which affected her functional activities for which she was referred to take physiotherapy treatment.

Procedure: Dry needling of semispinalis capitis muscle was used to reduce pain, which is a less well-known procedure.

Result: The result was calculated based on the pre-treatment and post-treatment sessions using NPRS and NDI that showed significant changes in the pain intensity and disability scores. Prior to the treatment, the score of NPRS for intensity of pain was 8 which subsequently reduced to 1 after 2 sessions of treatment. NDI scores varied from 52% pre-treatment to 8% post-treatment.

Conclusion: There is immediate effect of dry needling for semispinalis capitis in a patient with chronic non-specific neck pain which aids in pain relief, leading to improved functional activities of daily living and speeding up positive physical therapy outcomes.

Limitations: Since this is a case report, it cannot be generalised for a large group of population. Further research may be required to fully comprehend the usage of dry needling for semispinalis capitis, and its efficacy might be monitored over time to provide a better understanding of the treatment parameters.

Keywords: Neck pain, dry needling, semispinalis capitis, case report.

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Sakshi Shah

Intern, MGM School of Physiotherapy, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India