• Special Issue Topic

    Dry Needling for Neurological Disorders

    Submission Deadline: December 30, 2023

    Guest Editor

    Prof. Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari E-Mail

    Department of Physiotherapy, School of Rehabilitation, Research Center for War-affected People, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Research Keywords: neurorehabilitation; physiotherapy; spasticity; stroke


    About the Special Issue

    Dry needling (DN) is a modality used commonly by physiotherapists for the management of pain and dysfunction associated with the trigger points. In recent years, DN has been introduced as a novel strategy for the management of muscle spasticity after stroke. There are increasingly publications reporting the positive effects of DN on muscle spasticity. DN has been shown effective in reducing spasticity, increasing range of motion, improving active voluntary movements and function after stroke. The positive effects of DN on muscle spasticity after stroke has been placed the DN an emerging key treatment option in the field of neurorehabilitation.

    The application of DN has been recently expanded to other neurological diseases with muscle spasticity such as multiple sclerosis. Although increasing evidence emerges on the DN supporting it for the treatment of muscle spasticity, there are still numerous questions around the DN in neurorehabilitation, from the effective dose and protocol to mechanisms behind its effects in muscle spasticity. Current strategies have included the use of DN in combination with exercise therapy to enhance the effects on spasticity and movement dysfunction.

    This Special Issue is devoted to the use of DN in the field of neurorehabilitation particularly to the above themes and neurological problems in upper motor neuron syndrome. Studies with human using randomized controlled trials, original research, case series, as well as experiments in animal models, are all encouraged and welcome.

    Keywords: dry needling; neurology; neurorehabilitation; spasticity; stroke; multiple sclerosis; movement dysfunction

    Call for Papers

    Published Articles

    Open Access
    Systematic Review
    Effectiveness of dry needling on the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis: systematic review
    Aim: The aim of this study is to review the effectiveness of dry needling in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: PubMed, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Web of Science, [...] Read more.
    Ali Mutlu ... Buket Büyükturan
    Published: December 26, 2023 Explor Neuroprot Ther. 2023;3:470–480
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/ent.2023.00063
    View:472
    Download:23
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Case Report
    Dry needling with electrical stimulation for the treatment of a pediatric patient with spastic cerebral palsy: a case report
    The patient was a 6-year-old child with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (CP) categorized with the gross motor function classification system (GMFCS) as a level IV and a Modified Modified Ashwort [...] Read more.
    Temrah Okonski, Jan Dommerholt
    Published: November 16, 2022 Explor Neuroprot Ther. 2022;2:242–255
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/ent.2022.00031
    View:1171
    Download:49
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Economics of dry needling and botulinum toxin type A for treatment of post-stroke spasticity: a review
    Stroke is one of the most common causes of disability and exerts a high burden of direct and indirect costs. Stroke may cause spasticity, which limits patients’ abilities and affects the [...] Read more.
    Daniel Fernández ... Eva María Gómez-Trullén
    Published: June 30, 2022 Explor Neuroprot Ther. 2022;2:131–140
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/ent.2022.00024
    View:1298
    Download:64
    Open Access
    Original Article
    Combined effects of dry needling and exercises therapy on muscle spasticity and motor function in chronic stroke: a pretest-posttest pilot study
    Aim: Spasticity is one of the most common symptoms in post-stroke patients. Dry needling (DN) is a relatively new method for the management of muscle spasticity. A multimodal treatment may be mor [...] Read more.
    Seyedeh Saeideh Babazadeh-Zavieh ... Korosh Mansoori
    Published: June 20, 2022 Explor Neuroprot Ther. 2022;2:100–109
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/ent.2022.00021
    View:1202
    Download:51
    Open Access
    Review
    Dry needling in stroke
    Stroke causes acute neurological deficit which is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Neurorehabilitation is an important dimension in the management of post-stroke deficits. Spasticity,  [...] Read more.
    Nirmal Surya, Guhan Ramamurthy
    Published: February 17, 2022 Explor Neuroprot Ther. 2022;2:28–35
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/ent.2022.00016
    View:2776
    Download:91
    Times Cited: 0