Dry Needling Effective for Short-Term Relief of Mechanical Neck Pain: Meta-Analysis (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

• Dry needling significantly reduces short-term pain in mechanical neck pain.
• It improves function compared to sham treatments.
• Long-term effects are not well-established; evidence quality is moderate.

"A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs found that dry needling provides significant short-term pain relief and functional improvement in patients with chronic mechanical neck pain compared to sham or no treatment. However, evidence quality is moderate and long-term effects are unclear."