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Case study shows effective relief from shoulder impingement in a young adult with muscle imbalance, suggesting dry needling is a viable treatment.
The deltoid and rotator cuff muscles play a significant role in shoulder function. The rotatory forces of the deltoid and rotator cuff muscles act in opposite directions and result in the movement of the humerus in the same direction (abduction). Pathomechanics of shoulder impingement may cause an imbalance in anatomical force couple due to trigger points in muscles. Herein, we report a case of shoulder impingement caused due to the dysfunction of the deltoid and rotator cuff force couple in a 23-year-old male who was initially treated with physical therapy, and it failed to ease the patient’s problems completely. Trigger point dry needling relieved his symptoms with no recurrence till 1 month of follow-up. Trigger point dry needling can be a viable therapeutic option to treat the muscle imbalance in force couple.
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Sharma et al. (2025) studied this question.
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