Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Estimates of the prevalence of lumbar zygapophysial joint (Z joint) pain differ in the literature, as do case definitions for this condition. No studies have determined the prevalence of "pure" lumbar Z joint pain, defined as complete relief of pain following placebo-controlled diagnostic blocks. ⋯ The prevalence of "pure" lumbar Z joint pain is substantially and significantly less than most of the prevalence estimates of lumbar Z joint pain reported in the literature.
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Tendon dry needling is a potential treatment for tendinopathies. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain its underlying mechanisms. No studies (to the best of our knowledge) have investigated changes in gene expression. ⋯ This animal pilot study found that the application of dry needling to the healthy Achilles tendons of rats is able to increase the expression of genes associated with collagen regeneration and tissue remodeling of the extracellular matrix with no further histological damage to the tendon.