The Effects of Dry Needling and Physical Therapy on Improvement of Pain in Patients with Piriformis Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Piriformis syndrome may be source of low back, buttock pain or sciatica. The purpose of this Study is to determine the effectiveness of dry needling (ND) and classical physiotherapy (PT) in the management of pain in patients with Piriformis Syndrome (PS).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted 58 patients with PS were divided to two groups classical PT (n=29) and DN (n=29). 6 sessions performed for both groups, the pain measured before the first session and after each session at the end of both program, both groups were compared to determine which of them is more effective.

Results: The result showed that there was significant reduction of pain in both classical PT and dry needling groups. Paired-Sample T.Test indicated significantly difference mean ratings of pain affect from session 1 compare to session 6 for classical physical therapy T₍₂₈₎ =  14.065 , p = 0.000. in other group Paired-Sample T.Test also showed significantly difference mean ratings of pain affect from session 1 compare to session 6 for dry needling therapy T₍₂₈₎ =  11.119, p = 0.000.

Conclusion: Based on the results of statistical data analysis, it is concluded that both classical physical therapy and dry needling therapy have significant effect in treating and managing the pain in patients with piriformis syndrome and no significant difference was observed between the results of both groups.