Effectiveness of dry needling and stretching vs. stretching alone on flexibility of muscles

Background and Purpose: In order to improve muscle flexibility, the study was aimed at determining whether dry needling combined with standard stretching protocol would be effective. Significance: This study will determine which of the treatment protocol is more effective and to determine possible benefits for patient as well as for the practitioner. Methods: Twelve subjects with a mean age of 24.41 after confirming inclusion and exclusion criteria, patients with bilateral hamstrings tightness were enrolled in the study. Each subject was assigned in both C1 and C2 I.e. one leg was assigned to D.N with addition of static stretching (C1) and another leg was assigned to static stretching only (C2).Active knee extension was the outcome measure to check the improvements in flexibility of the muscle. The treatment protocol was for 4 weeks and pre - post test measurements were recorded. Results: The result indicates that D.N with addition of static stretching leads to greater improvements in flexibility than static stretching alone. The mean improved in active knee extension (AKE) for C1 and C2 was 9.50 and 2.25 respectively. With a t-value of 3.809**and 1.125NS respectively. Conclusion: It was concluded that D.N with addition of Static stretching was significant in improving flexibility of the muscle than Static stretching alone static stretching also shows positive improvements but was not statistically satisfied. Static stretching increases the stretch tolerance and with addition of D.N the latent trigger points are released which are the causes of tightness and which static stretching cannot release alone.