Dry Needling for Chronic Tension-Type Headache Linked to Levator Scapulae Syndrome

Physical therapists, and physical therapist assistants working under the direction of a physical therapist, who see patients with neck-related headache and want a plain-language summary of a published dry needling case report.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient orthopedic, occupational health, and headache-focused settings. The material is also relevant to clinicians credentialed in dry needling who treat work-related neck and shoulder complaints.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Gagnon P, Dunning J, Bliton P, Charlebois C, Henry N, Gorby P, Mourad F. Dry needling in the management of chronic tension-type headache associated with levator scapulae syndrome: A case report. Clinical Case Reports. 2024;12:e8858.

This course reports only what that single published case report describes. It does not add findings, recommendations, or numbers from any other source. The authors disclosed that one of them directs and owns a postgraduate training organization that teaches dry needling and related techniques, and that no funding was received for the work.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the presentation of the 63-year-old patient in this case report, including the headache pattern, the work-related trigger, and the palpation findings at the levator scapulae that reproduced his symptoms.
2. Name the interventions delivered across the five visits and state which structures the dry needling targeted.
3. Explain what the authors concluded about the role of dry needling in this case and why a single case report cannot establish cause and effect.

1. Start Here: how this course works and what the source is
2. Podcast: Dry Needling and the Levator Scapulae in Chronic Tension-Type Headache (about nine minutes)
3. The Patient, the Headache, and the Levator Scapulae Connection
4. Examining and Ruling Out: How the Diagnosis Was Reached
5. Inside the Treatment: Five Visits, Three Needling Sessions
6. What Changed, and When It Changed
7. One Patient, Many Interventions: Reading the Limits and the Wider Evidence
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Gagnon P, Dunning J, Bliton P, Charlebois C, Henry N, Gorby P, Mourad F. Dry needling in the management of chronic tension-type headache associated with levator scapulae syndrome: A case report. Clinical Case Reports. 2024;12:e8858.
2. This course reports only what that single published case report describes. It does not add findings, recommendations, or numbers from any other source. The authors disclosed that one of them directs and owns a postgraduate training organization that teaches dry needling and related techniques, and that no funding was received for the work.