Patients with knee osteoarthritis will be randomized to receive periosteal electrical dry needling 1-2 treatments per week for 6 weeks (up to 10 sessions total) followed by either: 1. no maintenance treatments, 2. one maintenance treatment every other month or 3. one maintenance treatment per month.
The purpose of this research is to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) with periosteal electric dry needling (PEDN). It is also to determine the optimal maintenance regiment (i.e. maintenance treatments, one maintenance treatment every other month, or one maintenance treatment per month) required to maintain improvements in pain and function following PEDN. Physical therapists commonly use PEDN to treat knee OA, and previous studies suggest that this treatment is useful for reducing pain and improving function in patients with osteoarthritis. However, an appropriate maintenance treatment strategy to maintain these outcomes is presently unknown.