A study in the January 2026 edition of the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) studied the differences between patients receiving physical therapy with dry needling and patients receiving traditional (think stretches and strengthening exercises) physical therapy. (If you’re into the nitty gritty, you can read the study here: https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2025.13460)
The good news? Physical therapy with or without dry needling helps shoulder pain improve. At six months and one year, patients displayed significant improvements in shoulder pain and functional abilities whether or not dry needling was a part of their therapy plan. This isn’t groundbreaking, physical therapy works!
What this study did find was that the group who did physical therapy AND dry needling showed significantly less pain at the six week mark. Shoulder rehab can be a slow, frustrating grind, sometimes it feels like you are working hard but not getting anywhere for a while. But with dry needling, we have the tool to accelerate your rehab and get you pain relief more quickly.
Patients in the study who received dry needling as part of their treatment were less likely to seek additional medical care for their shoulder injury than the therapy-only group. This should be the ultimate goal: feel better, get back to the activity or sport you’ve been missing, and save yourself time and money on future healthcare interventions!