Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Dural Stimulation and Periorbital von Frey Testing in Mice As a Preclinical Model of Headache
Published on: July 29, 2021
Effects of Dry Needling Technique Into Trigger Points of the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle in Migraine Headache: A
Tahere Rezaeian1, Zahra Mosallanezhad, Mohammad Reza Nourbakhsh
1From the Physiotherapy Department, Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University, Tehran, Iran (TR); Physiotherapy Department and Research Center on Aging, Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University, Tehran, Iran (ZM); Physiotherapy Department, North Georgia University, Dahlonega, Georgia (MRN); Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University, Tehran, Iran (MN); and Clinical Sciences Department & Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran (FS).
Objective:
The study aimed to investigate the effect of dry needling into trigger points of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in migraine headache patients.
Design:
Forty subjects with a migraine headache, originating from myofacial trigger points into the sternocleidomastoid muscle (20 subjects in dry needling group and 20 subjects in control group) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects in the treatment group received three sessions of dry needling in the myofascial trigger point region. Headache frequency, headache intensity, headache duration, drug consumption, muscle thickness, pressure pain threshold, and cervical range of motion were assessed before, immediately after intervention, and at 1-mo follow-up period. In addition, this article was extracted from Iranian Register of Clinical Trials Number IRCT20171219037956N1.
Results:
The experimental group showed significant reduction in the headache parameters immediately after the intervention and at 1-mo follow-up, as compared with the control group. The pressure pain threshold of sternocleidomastoid muscle, cervical range of motion, and muscle thickness significantly increased in the dry needling group in comparison with the control group (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
The application of dry needling technique caused an improvement in symptoms of migraine patients. Therefore, this technique may be prescribed for treating migraine patients with myofacial trigger points in the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
