dry needling in patients with chronic heel pain due to plantar fasciitis: a single-blinded randomized clinical trial

background: this study examined the effects of dry needling on chronic heel pain due to plantar fasciitis.   methods: during this single-blinded clinical trial, 20 eligible patients were randomized into two groups: a case group treated with dry needling and a control group. patients' plantar pain severity, (using modified visual analog scale [vas] scoring system), range of motion of ankle joint in dorsiflexion [romdf] and plantar extension [rompe] and foot function index (using standard questionnaires of sem5 and mdc7) were assessed at baseline, four weeks after intervention and four weeks after withdrawing treatment. independent sample t-test, mann-whitney u test, paired t-test, wilcoxon signed rank tests, and chi square test were used for data analysis.   results: the mean vas scores in the case group was significantly lower than the control group after four weeks of intervention (p< 0.001). comparison of the romdf and rompe did not reveal any significant changes after four weeks of intervention in the case and control groups (p=0.7 and p=0.65, respectively). the mean of mdc7 and sem5 scores in the case group were significantly lower than the control group following four weeks of intervention (p< 0.001).   conclusion: despite the insignificant effect on romdf and rompe, trigger point dry needling, by improving the severity of heel pain, can be used as a good alternative option before proceeding to more invasive therapies of plantar fasciitis.