Electrical Stimulation and Localized Heat After Dry Needling Treatment to Reduce Low Back Pain

Authors

• Morgan M. Mersola, Southern Utah UniversityFollow
• Amanda Hawkes, Utah Tech UniversityFollow
• Adam Mendenhall, Southern Utah Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

Keywords

dry needling, low back pain, electrical stimulation, localized heat, modalities

Abstract

Context: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a musculoskeletal condition that often leads to reduced quality of life, prompting the need for effective conservative interventions such as dry needling (DN). A randomized controlled pilot study involving 12 participants was conducted at a physical therapy clinic.

Methods: The final subject pool consisted of a convenience sample of adults with CLBP lasting > 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to either a dry needling-only group (DNO) or a dry needling plus modalities group (DN+M). The DNO group received a single dry needling treatment located at various sites along the multifidus by a physical therapist licensed in DN. Needles were removed after 10 minutes without additional treatment. The DN+M group received the same DN treatment with the addition of 15 minutes of electrical stimulation and moist heat application. All participants rated their pain levels using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) before treatment (pre), immediately after (post 1), and 1-week post-treatment (post 2). Additionally, participants completed the Modified Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (ODI) to assess low back disability before treatment and 1-week post-treatment.

Results: There were no main effects for time points (P = .07; n² = 0.032) or intervention (P = .51; n² = 0.039) or an interaction (P = .44; n² = 0.009) observed for pain. A significant change was noted between NPRS scores (pre and post 1) with the DNO group (P < .001). No significant differences in ODI scores between pre-test and post-test measurements were noted between groups (P = .64, DNO -3.125 [SD 4.883], DN+M:  -1.75 [SD 4.193]).

Conclusions: Complementary modality treatments following DN showed some score improvements in pain levels and overall low back disability immediately after treatment; however, these scores were not statistically significant. Future research should include a larger sample size, multiple DN sessions, and consider evaluating DN alongside other physical therapy interventions.

Recommended Citation

Mersola, Morgan M.; Hawkes, Amanda; and Mendenhall, Adam (2026) "Electrical Stimulation and Localized Heat After Dry Needling Treatment to Reduce Low Back Pain," Clinical Practice in Athletic Training: Vol. 9: Iss. 2, Article 6.
DOI: 10.51221/sc.cli.2026.9.2.6
Available at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/clinat/vol9/iss2/6