Investigation of the effect of dry needling on dizziness

Introduction and Objective: Dizziness is a symptom expressed as a feeling of emptiness and rotation in the head. Dizziness may be seen in vestibular system disorders of peripheral or central origin, different systemic diseases and musculoskeletal system problems. In recent years, botulinum toxin applications have been performed for dizziness complaints caused by vestibular migraine. Dry needling is one of the methods used in the treatment of musculoskeletal dizziness; however, there are not enough studies on it. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dry needling technique for dizziness caused by different vestibular diseases. Method: Thirty-one individuals who presented with dizziness and did not meet the exclusion criteria were included in the study. Participants were first asked to fill in the evaluation form. In the evaluation form, the participants' pre-treatment neck range of motion, presence of trigger points in the head and neck muscles, and static balance scores on one leg were determined. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to determine the severity and frequency of dizziness, and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) was used to determine the emotional, physical and functional effects of the participants. The control group practiced the exercises every day for 4 weeks, alternating once a week. In the experimental group, in addition to the control group, dry needling was applied to the relevant muscles once a week with the fast in fast out technique. After four weeks, the participants' neck range of motion, presence of trigger points, static balance on one leg scores were measured. Participants were asked to fill out the DHI and VAS again. The post-test results were compared with the pre-test results. Results: The study included 31 individuals with dizziness. Gender distribution was 41.9% male and 58.1% female. A significant decrease in dizziness severity was observed between the groups (p=0.014). The decrease in the frequency of dizziness in the experimental and control groups was statistically significant (p=0.001 and p=0004, respectively). There was a statistically significant decrease in the DHI scores of the subjects in both pre-test and post-test results ( p<0.001 and p=0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in the emotional disability scores of the DHI subscales (p=0.030). Conclusions and Recommendations:. Dry needling increases blood circulation, inactivates trigger points and provides proprioceptive information to the muscle. Although it is an invasive method, it is considered to be a safe method that can be used in the treatment of dizziness. In this study, since we applied dry needling to many muscle groups, only one needle was used in one muscle. In clinical applications, depending on the size of the muscle and the presence of trigger points in the muscle, applying multiple needling to the same muscle in one session may provide results in a shorter time. It is known that most patients with dizziness are accompanied by panic attacks and generalized anxiety disorder. Therefore, it is thought that reassuring the patients and evaluating the patients from this point of view in future studies will have an important place in the evaluation and intervention stages. Keywords: Dizziness, Dry Needling, Vestibular Rehabilitation