Treatment of temporomandibular myofascial pain with deep dry needling

OBJECTIVES The present study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of deep dry needling in the treatment of temporomandibular myofascial pain. STUDY DESIGN We selected 36 patients with myofascial pain located in the external pterygoid muscle (30 women/6 men, mean age=27 years with SD±6.5). We studied differences in pain with a visual analog scale and range of mandibular movements before and after intervention. RESULTS We found a statistically significant relationship (p<0.01) between therapeutic intervention and the improvement of pain and jaw movements, which continued up to 6 months after treatment. Pain reduction was greater the higher was the intensity of pain at baseline. CONCLUSIONS Although further studies are needed, our findings suggest that deep dry needling in the trigger point in the external pterygoid muscle can be effective in the management of patients with myofascial pain located in that muscle.