Effects of Two Different Dry-Needling Techniques on Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Activation and Pressure Pain Threshold in Healthy Adults and Patients With Low Back Pain

PARTICIPANTS

Participants will be recruited from local communities, including but not limited to Texas Woman's University (TWU) via flyers. The flyers will be posted at the TWU - Dallas campus, and Texas Physical Therapy Specialist - Dallas where one of the principal investigators, Zach Couch, works, and other community centers with approval.

Participants who are interested in taking part in the study will be asked to call the investigators to schedule an appointment. The consent form will be presented at the beginning of the appointment.

Eligible participants are English-speaking adults and are 18 years of age or older. Additional criteria for asymptomatic healthy adults include no existing LBP and no LBP in the past 6 months. Additional criteria for symptomatic participants include existing LBP near the L5-S2 level with an average pain intensity score ≥ 2/10 in the past 24 hours (numeric pain rating scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain, 10 being unbearable pain).

Exclusion criteria for all participants include bleeding disorders (e.g. hemophilia), use of anti-coagulants (e.g. Coumadin), previous low back surgery, systemic joint disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis), cancer of the lower quadrant, neurological disorders, allergic reaction to adhesive tape, or inability to obtain the testing position (prone lying).