Dry needling is a widely used intervention performed by physical therapists for a wide range of musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. Dry needling has been shown to be beneficial for cervicogenic headaches but treatment is typically applied to the neck. It is well-established that cervical pain can upregulate the trigeminal nerve and vice versa in various forms of headaches. Thus, it is plausable that reducing inflammation and irritation of the trigeminal nerve may in fact reduce neck pain and impairments. This study aims to look investigate whether dry needling the trigeminal innervation field will reduce pain and impairments known to exist in patients with cervicogenic headaches compared to a sham comparator. The study is a pilot trial for a larger RCT and will look at immediate effects only.
Currently, it is unknown if dry needling when performed to the trigeminal innervation field improves neck pain and or headache for patients with cervicogenic headaches. The aim of this study is to determine if dry needling of the trigeminal innervation field improves pain, pain-pressure thresholds, and neck mobility in patients with cervicogenic headaches, with or without migraine.